Ad Astra Per Aspera
by HarleyJQuin
Summary: After an exhausting week in England battling the Wizengamot, Harry Potter arrived home to Beacon Hills to find his life turned completely upside down. Harry Potter/Peter Hale.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**  
**January 2005**

Harry walked in the door of the penthouse apartment he shared with his partner, Peter Hale, he was a bit worried as he hadn't been able to get in touch with Peter for several days now. Peter was normally militant about replying to text messages and phone calls when Harry was away.

After a few days of non-contact from Peter, Harry had decided to finish up early so he could head home. He trusted his goblin account managers, Ragnok and Ironsword, with help from his lawyer and friend, Draco Malfoy to finish his business matters without him. They all knew how to get in touch with him if they needed him to make a decision.

He dropped his bags in their bedroom and had a long hot shower to wash off the plane trip. Harry didn't like traveling by mundane means but he was not able to get a short notice international portkey for his return trip.

After Harry finished his shower and got dressed in his usual casual wear of black jeans and a dark green long-sleeved Henley, he then walked around the apartment looking for any sign of Peter. The apartment looked completely untouched, Peter's phone charger was still sitting on his desk, none of the food in the fridge had been eaten. He thought to himself that Peter must still be with his sister and her family in the preserve for the family reunion with a flat cell phone.

He walked to the foyer and grabbed the keys to his prized Mustang, Harry decided he needed the 40 minute drive out to the Hale house to clear his head from a week of tedious Wizengamot and business meetings.

When he arrived at the Hale house he was stunned, angered and more than a bit panicked, to find the burnt-out shell of the house with police tape surrounding the house. He could see deputies on guard but he didn't recognize any of them, they weren't deputies he has worked with in the past when working on investigations locally.

Harry jumped back in his Mustang and drove back toward town, he stopped once he was a good distance away from the house to activate the tracking spell that he had on Peter. He was a bit confused as it appeared to be indicating that Peter was at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, a Bad Idea™ for a werewolf.

He jumped back in the Mustang and drove hell for leather for the hospital. He needed to know what was going on and Peter was his best bet for information at the best of times.

After a quick stop at the apartment to pick up his work credentials due to a strong gut feeling Harry arrived at the hospital and stalked towards the reception desk.

Harry cleared his throat to get the attention of the nurse at the counter, he asked politely, "Hi, I am looking for Peter Hale."

She looked up with a disinterested look on her face as she asked, "And you are?"

Harry smiled and handed over his US Drivers Licence, no need to give away the game too fast, "Harry Potter, his partner."

She took the ID and she inspected it closely before she turned to pull up Peter's details on the computer. She handed back the ID. "I'm sorry but I can't let you in to see him. The details we have state that his partner died in the Hale house fire. His family have requested privacy at this difficult time so I am unable to release any information to you." She turned back to the computer dismissing Harry completely.

Harry waited a few minutes to see if she would give him more information but he realized it was a lost cause so he left. He jumped back in the Mustang and he headed for the Sheriff's office to get information on the fire.

He walked into the busy station and found Deputy Stilinski, his usual liaison, looking disgruntled at his desk. Harry walked over and he took a seat in the visitor's chair by Noah's desk. He looked up at Noah and gave him a look at clearly stated 'please explain.'

Noah gulped when he saw the look on Agent Potter's face. He said with trepidation, "Well, Agent Potter, it's good to know that you're not dead."

Harry gave him a deadpan look. "I have just gotten back from a very long week of meetings and government policy discussions. I arrived home to an empty apartment, I find Talia's house burnt to the ground and Peter is in hospital and I am not able to see him or even get information on his status. Never mind the fact that I was not notified of any of any of this even though my phone has been on and with me the entire time I was away in England. So, the only way I could be considered dead, is dead tired. Noah, what the hell is going on?"

Noah stood and gestured him toward Sheriff Tunley's office. Harry got up and silently followed him.

Noah knocked on the Sheriff's door, he leaned in and asked "Glen, are you busy? Agent Potter is here to enquire after the Hale Fire case."

Glen Tunley, the current sheriff frowned. "What case? It's closed, the arson investigator ruled it accidental."

Harry looked at Noah, the anger was clear on the deputy's face, he asked, "When was the fire?"

Noah looked at the calendar on the wall and he replied, "Thursday, so five days ago."

Harry raised an eyebrow, he picked up his mobile and made a call. "Hey boss, I need the team in Beacon Hills… Yep, the whole team… Fire, the sheriff seems fine to accept an accidental ruling from the arson investigator after only 5 days on a house fire that took out an entire family… Yes, that's why Peter has been out of contact, yes, I am involved. It was Peter's family. I don't know his status yet. I can tell he's alive but that's it… Thanks, boss… You will sort the warrants and liaison authorizations? Great, do you have the fax number for the station? Yes, I will let you know more about Peter when I find out. Talk to you later."

Sheriff Tunley was getting very red in the face as he blustered, "How dare you, you just can't come in and take over!"

Harry cut him off succinctly when he said, "When a Federal Agent and his family are attacked it becomes FBI jurisdiction. The fact that you are willing to accept the report from an obviously corrupt arson investigator will bring you and your department under investigation." He looked at Noah "You seem happy that my team is taking over?"

Noah nodded, "I thought it was too soon to be able to report accurately, and I felt it was odd that the report said there were no accelerants involved when the whole house stunk of gasoline. For the record, Peter is in hospital, he's in a coma with severe burns." Harry sat before he fell down in shock, he knew the burns must be bad if he is in hospital and not setting off alarm bells. "The hospital was told you were in the house at the time of the fire by Laura Hale, who is currently listed as his medical proxy as his eldest living relative. I requested that someone try and call you as I remembered you saying that you were going to be out of the country, but I was denied by both the hospital director and by Sheriff Tunley."

Harry took a deep breath to try and center himself, he turned to the sheriff and he demanded, "I want all the case files in my hands, now! You will have the paperwork authorizing the change of jurisdiction for the fire on your fax machine in about five minutes." He looked across at Noah who nodded as he headed out to gather the files into a file box, he turned back to Sheriff Tunley, "I am seconding Noah to work with me and my team until the investigation on this department is completed. He has worked with us in the past as a liaison and his background check is up to date. Noah is gathering all the files then we will head to the hospital so I can get Peter sorted out."

Harry glared at the sheriff, "I have strong suspicions that you are aware of what is going on, and that you are working with the arsonists to bury the fire as an accident. If I find that you were complicit in any way there will be nowhere for you to hide that my team won't know about. Nowhere!"

Sheriff Tunley's jaw dropped, "You can't threaten me like that!"

Harry just looked at him radiating an aura of pure anger, "I just did! Peter Hale is my partner, my family, my everything. There is nothing I will not do to keep him safe." He turned and stormed out of the office. Noah followed with a file box full of case files and evidence all signed out and ready for the FBI to take over the investigation.

Noah put the files in the trunk of Harry's Mustang then turned to put his hand on Harry's forearm as he held out his other hand. "Keys please Harry, you are angry and I would like to make it to the hospital in one piece."

Harry handed over the keys, "Fine. But while we drive over you are going to update me on the status of the Hale family. Clearly, something else is going on since neither myself nor Peter's boss at the FBI were informed."

Noah sighed as he got into the driver's seat. He asked, "Do you have your domestic partnership paperwork and your work ID on you?"

Harry shook his head, he commented, "I have my badge but not my sidearm, which technically I should have if I have my badge, nor do I have my paperwork. We will need to make a stop to grab everything from the safe at home."

Noah took the next left, he asked, "You're still in the apartment block on Lupa?"

Harry nodded absently, he had his phone out and it looked to Noah like he was in an intense text conversation.

"Problem?" Noah asked.

Harry smiled, "No, not anymore, I was texting my lawyer in England, he's going to jump on the first flight out here to help sort this mess out." Harry jumped out when they pulled into the visitor parking in front of his building. "Give me five minutes to grab the paperwork and put on my suit, my boss will kill me if I present my FBI ID in jeans and a Henley."

Noah looked up as Harry jumped back in the Mustang, he raised an eyebrow in question.

Harry rolled his eyes and answered, "I have my ID, my sidearm, the domestic partnership paperwork, and also a notarized copy of Peter's living will giving me authorization as his medical proxy in the event he is unable to make decisions for himself." He held up a legal envelope. "I also grabbed the paperwork Peter had as a backup for Talia which includes a copy of Talia's will, the originals being kept secure in the family safety deposit box at the bank."

Noah nodded, "That should cover it. Provided the bullshit at the station isn't all over the hospital as well."

Harry smirked, "That's why Draco is on his way over as we speak. Now, update me please on the fire."

Noah pulled into the parking lot at the hospital but made no move to get out of the car. He huffed, "You have to promise not to kill the messenger."

"Scouts honor," Harry said deadpan. "Now spill."

Noah rubbed the back of his neck, "Right, so near as I can work out, around a fuck tonne of interference, the house was deliberately set alight, near as I can tell the exit tunnels under the house in the basement were blocked somehow, I haven't figured out how yet."

Harry murmured, "They probably used mountain ash, the bigger question is how did they know about the tunnels? They were a family secret. Hell, I had been living with Peter here in town for 2 years before I was let in on the secret."

"Right." Noah added that information to the mental list he had going, "So Peter was found near one of the basement windows, it was too small for him to fit through so we are not sure what he was doing. We have confirmed that there were 11 bodies in the basement. You were listed on the body count and we will need to make sure the medical examiner hasn't done a death certificate based on Laura Hale's statement."

Harry frowned, "She did the preliminary identification? I guess it depends on if the medical examiner is in on the arson coverup or not."

Noah shuddered, "I hate to think how far this goes." He took a deep breath, "Right, so Peter was the only one found alive in the house, Laura and Derek were at the high school at the time of the fire, Laura was picking Derek up from basketball practice."

Harry looked up, "Derek is alive too? So where is he?"

Noah shrugged his shoulders, and answered with resignation, "We don't know. I took both their statements after the fire, well I tried too. Derek wouldn't say a word, as he is a minor Laura accompanied him as his legal guardian had to be there when he was being interviewed."

Harry snarled, "She's not his guardian, in the event of Talia and James dying, custody of her kids was to pass to Peter, then me, I have copies of their wills here. Talia left copies of everything with us as she knew they would be protected."

Noah nodded, "Magic right?"

Harry smiled, "Yep, I have a locket that is a pocket dimension that only myself and Peter can see and access."

Noah frowned and he asked, "A pocket dimension? What's that?"

Harry contemplated the easiest way to explain it to a mundane, then he remembered watching Dr. Who. He explained, "Have you seen Dr. Who?" He saw Noah nod slowly, "It's like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside. Anything stored inside it exists outside of space and time in a way."

Noah smiled, "So anything you store is theoretically safe, great. Now, what's your plan with Peter, if this was arson he is likely not safe in the hospital."

Harry agreed wholeheartedly, he picked up his phone to make a call. "Aaron? It's Harry, do you still have your mundane medical license? Good, good. Is it valid in California? Great, I need to call in one of those favors you owe me. Peters in the hospital here, all I know so far is that it is severe burns. Right, exactly, they shouldn't still be affecting him unless he is still under the influence of wolfsbane. Can you start organizing the paperwork to have him transferred with my authority? I should have his medical proxy in about 30 minutes, I am about to go make waves about the fact that his niece is acting as his medical proxy without the legal right to do so. I will see you in an hour? Thanks, Aaron."

He turned to face Noah, "Right, Aaron should arrive soon to organize for Peter to be transferred to a private hospital where he can be treated properly." Harry made some notes on his phone, "Noah, who signed off on Laura being Derek's guardian?"

Noah shrugged, "I am not sure anyone has to be honest. It's more likely that no one has objected so she has taken that as acceptance and run." Noah gulped and he asked, "Why didn't you use magic to get Peter released into your care? Make them forget he was there at all."

"It's likely we will do that, once we can come up with a cover story for why he was there," Harry explained, "We will probably say he was there being treated for less serious injuries. It's too risky to remove the visit altogether."

Noah always curious asked, "Risky how?"

Harry grimaced, "We have had a few occasions where we have done obliviates which removed specific memories from the person or location depending on the intent of the caster. What we didn't realize was that the spell doesn't affect offsite backups of things like computer records or camera footage. So now we are more careful about how we do cleanups. We have a tech specialist who goes through and manually edits the files to make sure that any changes from the obliviate filter down to the backups. They will be coming through with my team."

Harry took a few minutes to make sure he had all the paperwork he would need to take custody of Peter. "Let's go."

They walked into the hospital and Noah led Harry past the main reception to the Long Term Care ward nurses station. Noah cleared his throat and said, "Mel?"

Nurse Melissa McCall looked up, "Oh Noah, there you are, you have paperwork for me to see? Your text was not overly clear."

Noah chuckled, "I should get Stiles to give me more texting lessons. Sorry about that." He turned and gestured to Harry, "This is Agent Potter, he's Peters partner, he has paperwork proving both their domestic partnership and Peter's living will authorizing Harry as his medical proxy as a backup."

Melissa held her hand out for the paperwork and had a read through what Harry handed over. She pulled up Peter's information on the computer and she was making a start at the amendments when she noticed that Harry had a file.

She looked up at Harry and she asked, "Are you aware Harry, that you have been officially declared dead?"

"Fuck!" Harry walked away and called his boss. "Hey boss, you need to send the medical examiner and forensics team down here, it looks like the local ME is in on whatever the hell is going on… Yep, I have just been made aware, can you counter it? Thanks, boss, you might want to consider coming with the ME team to oversee the investigation, I don't think this is going to be an open and shut case."

Harry walked back to Melissa, "The records are being updated as we speak, however, I need to see Peter. The nurse on the front desk refused to give me any information or access. I just need a basic rundown of his injuries and then I want to see him. Please."

Melissa nodded and led Harry and Noah to Peter's room. Noah stood guard outside while Harry and Melissa stepped into the room. Melissa picked up the chart, "So a basic rundown, Peter has third-degree burns over 50% of his body, mostly down his left side, and he's in a coma, we think from the stress of the injuries. We aren't sure when or even if he will wake up at this stage."

Harry nodded, "Our personal doctor, Dr. Aaron Wilson will be coming in later on today to take custody of Peter and he will have transfer papers to take him to a private clinic we use. When he gets here just let me know what I need to sign to get this done ASAP."

Melissa nodded and left the room.

Harry walked over to Peter and caressed the undamaged side of his face before giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead, he murmured almost absently, "Peter, what the hell happened?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
**January 2005**

Harry looked up as he heard the door to Peter's hospital room open. "Aaron! Thank Merlin you're here." Harry exclaimed as he stepped forward to wrap Aaron into a hug.

Aaron chuckled, "Anything for my favorite pair of agents. So what's going on kiddo."

Harry led Aaron to Peter's hospital room and waved him in. "Peter was in town for the yearly wolf moon gathering, preliminary investigations have discovered that someone surrounded the Hale house in mountain ash and set fire to it using an accelerant of some sort. So far the only survivor in the house is Peter but we are still investigating. There seems to be a local conspiracy to cover up the fire so I have called in my team to take over including our own medical examiners."

Aaron walked over to the bed and he picked up Peter's chart to have a read through before placing it back in the holder at the end of the bed. As he read though he asked, "It says he's been here for five days, why am I only just getting here now, why…"

Harry cut him off with a snarled "Laura! She claimed I was one of the bodies they found in the house and had me declared dead. It seems she has left him here and has done a runner with Derek."

Aaron looked over at Harry and he asked, "Is the room secure?"

Harry nodded. "I have placed some basic wards on the room to disrupt any cameras or listening devices, intent wards, and a few privacy wards. Noah is on guard outside the room until my team arrives. He's a local deputy that has worked with us in the past and he has signed all the various secrecy contracts."

Aaron smiled and he turned back to the bed as he pulled out his wand, he started waving his wand over Peter doing a full diagnostic charm. After a few minutes Aaron started swearing as he was reading the parchment that the results were spelled to appear on.

Harry walked over and he paled as he started reading the parchment and he saw that wolfsbane poisoning was listed at the top as the most serious condition.

Harry cleared his throat as he asked, "Fuck! What can I do? Do you need me to contact anyone?"

Aaron gripped Harry's shoulder to calm him down. "Leave it with me, I will run more diagnostic charms that will tell me which type of wolfsbane he has been poisoned with and how widespread it is, most importantly they will hopefully tell me how he was poisoned. See if you can get the accelerant tested, it's likely that it's in the accelerant, you know though, once we get the wolfsbane out of his system he should heal quickly once his wolf side can kick in. You will need to work fast to get the cover story in place once he is awake."

Harry hesitated but he pondered, "I can't stop wondering who else might have made it out. There are only nine bodies in the morgue, it doesn't add up to who should have been around for the Wolf Moon pack run. Is it worth doing an inheritance test to find out what family members are still alive?"

Aaron thought about it, "It can't hurt, it would depend on which test and what it shows. Maybe talk to SAC Duthie about it."

Harry nodded and he left Aaron to his work. He stepped out of the room to talk to Noah, "Can you keep an eye on the room? Peter has wolfsbane poisoning so Aaron is running diagnostics to find out the extent of it so he can administer the right potions to remove the poison. I will need to brief SAC Duthie so he can take over the investigation."

Noah smiled, as he asked, "Are you both going to be able to stay out of the investigation?"

Harry shook his head and laughed, "Hell no, this is an attack on our family, one we argue with at the best of times but they are… they were still family."

Harry looked down at the phone in his hand as it beeped with an incoming message.

From Charlie: We are at the hospital lobby.  
To Charlie: Be right there.

"Right." Harry exclaims tiredly, "The boss has arrived with the team, I need to head down to brief them and get the cover story and obliviates started. Let me know if you need anything ok, Noah?"

Noah waved him away with a quietly murmured, "Give 'em hell Harry."

-x-

Harry headed down to the hospital lobby, he saw Melissa McCall when he arrived so he approached her and he asked, "Melissa right?" She nodded, "Can I ask a favor or two?"

Melissa nodded, she answered with a smirk, "Sure, you can ask"

Harry smiled at her snark Chuckling he asked, "First up do you have a spare meeting room or family room we can use? I need to brief my boss and the rest of my team and get them started on the Hale fire investigation."

She walked over to one of the reception computers and pulled up the booking screen. She said, "There is one on this floor but it's not overly private, maybe good for an initial briefing, but I get the feeling you will be here for a while so I would suggest using that one, for now, to get everyone squared away then we will set you up in the family room on the long term care ward. It's rarely used and it is large enough for a good-sized team." She looked up at him, "Does that sound like what you need?"

Harry smiled, "That sounds perfect, thanks, Melissa. My other favor is can you please ask the hospital administrator to meet me in that first meeting room ASAP. I need to assess if they are going to help or hinder the investigation."

Melissa nodded, she looked pensive as she asked, "Before I call Daphne can we have a quick private word?"

Harry looked over at his boss and held up two fingers, Charlie nodded so Harry turned back to Melissa and agreed, "Let's go to that meeting room and you can tell me what's got you so worried."

They headed down to the meeting room and Melissa turned as Harry shut the door. She demanded, "Is the San Francisco FBI office involved in this investigation?"

Harry shook his head, "No. Not at all, my team is a special team that takes on cases from all over the country. The local office does not need to get involved." He saw the look on her face and realization dawned, "But you seem to think they will get involved regardless."

Melissa nodded, "My ex-husband Rafe McCall is a Special Agent based in the San Francisco office, when anything happens that involves Beacon Hills he seems to get sent to check it out. He has a talent for poking his nose into investigations that don't involve him. Especially if he finds out Noah is seconded to your team."

Harry smiled, "Leave it with me, I will make sure Charlie speaks to his boss about keeping him out of this investigation. Thanks for letting me know."

They turned and left the room. As they walked back to the lobby Melissa said, "I will call Daphne now and get her to come down. I will send her to the meeting room we were just in."

Harry turned to her and smiled, "Thanks, Melissa. Please do keep me updated if you see Rafe around?"

Melissa nodded and headed back to the reception desk, however before she got there she turned and she asked, "Do you want me to take over for Peter's nurse until you have cleared the staff on his ward?"

Harry shook his head, "Thanks for the offer but not yet, Aaron is still with him and Noah is guarding his room. I don't want to give away more than that about our investigation. I will let Simon know to ask for you if he needs to pull in helpers. He's our team medic."

She left then to make her calls and Harry walked over to join Charlie and the rest of his team who were waiting patiently.

"Charlie, thanks for coming," Harry said as he approached.

Charlie pulled Harry into a hug. "How could I not. When the family of two of my favorite agents has been attacked, how could I not? So what's going on?"

"Melissa has organized a short term meeting room down here for an initial briefing then we will move to the room on Peter's ward until he can be released," Harry explained as he led the team to the meeting room.

When they arrived at the meeting room they locked the room and set the privacy wards. Charlie then pulled Harry to the side and he asked, "Is Aaron with Peter now?"

Harry nodded, and with a look of fury on his face, he explained. "Peter has severe burns to over 50% of his body which are not healing at all. He is in a deep coma and Aaron found he has wolfsbane poisoning. The local sheriff just wrote off the fire as an electrical fault, case closed, accidental."

"Merlin." Charlie exclaimed, "What a clusterfuck. Harry, how do you feel about guarding Peter until he is back on his feet while your team takes point with the hospital administrators and Peter's team takes the sheriff station with help from Noah?"

Harry looked thoughtful as he replied, "Leave Agent Dorin with the team hitting the hospital and send Agent Darcy with Peter's Team. The two team medics will be able to help the ME team as they take over the autopsies once they are done helping Aaron. Daphne should be here soon so we can get a start on the hospital side of the investigation."

"Agreed," Charlie turned to address the waiting agents. "This case strikes close to home and to be honest it reeks of conspiracy. Harry and Peter will have to stay out of this investigation as much as possible as it involves their family so you will be reporting to me and they will be dealing with any family members who escaped the fire and any background work we can do."

Harry moved to answer the door when he heard a knock. "Potter. Nurse McCall said you needed to speak to me?"

Harry looked at her, he was curious at the recognition in her tone as he gestured for her to enter the room. She looked over at him as she entered and she muttered under her breath, "Nice wards."

Harry missed the comment as he led her over to Charlie. "Charlie, this is Daphne, she is the hospital administrator and will be able to help with the hospital side of the investigation. I am going to head back up to Peter's room. I will take Agent's Spire and Dorin with me."

Charlie nodded, "Sure thing Harry. Take Agent Dwyer with you, he can replace Deputy Stilinski on guard duty. Send Noah down so he can help Peter's team."

Harry nodded and he gathered up the medics and Agent Dwyer before he headed up to Peter's room. He trusted Charlie to get the investigation off the ground.

-x-

Harry had a quick word with Noah before sending him down to the meeting room to see Charlie. He then stepped into Peter's hospital room with the two medics in tow.

"How's the diagnostics going Aaron?" He asked as he closed the door.

Aaron looked up from the parchments he was reading and he said, "I have narrowed down the strain, I just need someone to pick up the antidote." He looked over at Senior Special Agent Spires and he handed over a list as he asked, "Can you please go to your infirmary and pick up the potions and ingredients on this list?"

Simon checked the list and he nodded his agreement before he apparated away.

Aaron looked over at the other medic in the room. He asked her, "Jennifer, I need you to go to my clinic and pick up my scrub kit. It should be ready to go and shrunk down. If it's not you can ask for my elf, Stethy who knows how to pack it up with everything it needs."

He turned back to Harry. "He's been double poisoned, thankfully, we have caught it in time but he won't wake from the coma until we can get the bulk of it out of his system."

Harry nodded. "I tried to get back sooner but the British Ministry are still being arseholes. I already had a portkey set to return but it wasn't due to go off for another few days. I am still being punished for standing up for the Malfoys and the rest of the Slytherin students, so any portkey requests, including family emergencies, are taking over a week to process. Any requests I make to the British ministry are taking longer to process. The Brits don't seem to understand that their bigoted behaviour and policies are why I chose to work in the United States for MACUSA and why I leave my seats to Draco to manage."

Aaron shook his head, "They won't learn, not in our lifetime."

The healer knocked on the door and he motioned Agent Dwyer into the room. He held up some parchments and explained, "Can you take these down to SAC Duthie ASAP. They are the results of my investigation into the wolfsbane poisoning and recommendations for the obligates and the investigation. The results show that there was wolfsbane was in the accelerant which is why the burns aren't healing, but it was also in the meal Peter had at the house, what, five days ago? It seems to have been reinforced by something he has been getting here at the hospital. SAC Duthie and the team will need to find out if it's through his medication or via a staff member poisoning his IV. Either way, we will have to scrub him down while the purging potion does it's thing so the wolfsbane he purges doesn't get stuck in the burns."

Bryant replied, "Thanks, I am sure that SAC Duthie will be up to check on Peter when he gets these results." He carefully placed the reports into his pocket dimension before he headed down to pass on the parchments.

Aaron looked at Harry and he explained, "I have your medics fetching what we will need to purge the wolfsbane. I also requested an inheritance potion so we can find any survivors as anyone who ate that meal at the house will need treatment for wolfsbane poisoning. Can you ward the room for silence? Peter is likely to come around ready to fight so we will need to prepare for that so we don't alert others while your team is off fixing memories. I have recommended that the memories are altered so that Peter was in for surgery on a bad arm break, there are x-rays in the system of a bad break to his humerus which has been slowly healing despite the wolfsbane."

Harry shook his head, "What a mess. He will be fine right?"

Aaron nodded, "Yep, as soon as we can get him purged he will be fine. I want you to work on his upper body so when he does come around he sees that you are here and you can calm him down. We will do the inheritance potion once he is awake."

They both moved to make room for the equipment and they added extra silencing wards to the room as they waited for the medics to return.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**  
**January 2005**

Harry looked over at Aaron and he asked, "So what potions have you ordered?"

Aaron looked up from the notes he was writing and replied, "The standard for a burns case with poison involved. Purging potions, pain potions, burn paste, a few dreamless sleep potions, and the inheritance potion. I will do the inheritance potion as soon as Simon returns so it can process while we get Peter started on the purging potions. We will need to scrub him down as the purging potion works to get the wolfsbane out of the burns so they can heal."

Harry frowned, "That's the kit you sent Jennifer for?"

Aaron nodded. "I have a tub that is charmed to remove the impurities from the water as the purging potion works so the body doesn't reabsorb them. It also has scrubbing brushes that will help us scrub out the burns. It's going to hurt like hell but it's necessary. We won't be able to give him the pain potion until the purging potion and the burn paste have finished doing their thing."

Harry leaned over and he kissed Peter's forehead. "Whoever set the fire is going to pay."

Senior Special Agent Simon Spires arrived in the room with a pop and he placed the box he was carrying on the table Aaron had set up for the potions.

Aaron walked over to the table and he checked the box against the list he had given Simon before he picked the purpley blue potion out of the box. With help from Harry he used a sterile knife to add seven drops of Peter's blood to the potion, then they all closely watched the potion as it turned a neon pink color before Aaron poured it out over a sheet of parchment they had prepared so it could process.

Aaron explained, "This particular potion will show a family tree showing three generations including bonded partners. It will include both their date of birth and date of death. One generation back, so his parents and those related to his parents, his generation and if he or his siblings have any kids they will show with any bonded partners."

"Great," Harry exclaimed, "Can the docs use this to help identify who died?"

Aaron nodded, "Sure, as long as Peter approves."

With a pop, Jennifer appeared in the room and she handed over a shrunken trunk to Aaron before she joined Simon by Peter's bed. They both started running diagnostic charms on Peter for the official case files.

"Harry?" Aaron asked, "Can you help me set up the tub so we can get Peter all healed up?"

Harry nodded and with a final kiss to the part of Peter's forehead that was undamaged he walked over to help Aaron set up the specialty tub. Aaron checked over the rune sets engraved on the sides to ensure there was no damage and he activated them while Harry filled the tub with fresh purified water with the Aguamenti charm.

Aaron walked over and he checked that the inheritance potion was processing, he smiled when he could see it slowly developing like a mundane polaroid photo.

Simon raised his eyebrow in question at Jennifer who nodded to indicate she was all done with her diagnostics. He called out, "All done here Aaron. Do you want me to levitate him into the tub?"

Aaron gave everything a cursory glance to make sure the tub was ready and that all the potions and scrubbing tools were placed within reach, he then turned to Simon and nodded, "Yep, bring him over and place him in with his head where Harry is standing."

They carefully maneuvered Peter into the tub and Aaron spelled the first of the purging potions into Peter's stomach.

"While the purging potion starts working let me go over again what the plan here is," Aaron explained, "Harry your job is to stay by his head beside the tub so if he wakes you will be able to see him. We won't be able to use anything to keep him asleep as the purging potion will remove it, your job will be to keep him calm and in the tub. He is likely to come up swinging so be on guard. Simon and Jennifer you will both help scrub the burns, we need to make sure none of the wolfsbane being purged gets stuck in the burn scars so they have the best chance of healing."

Harry frowned, "What else is the purging potion likely to affect?"

Aaron looked thoughtful as he answered, "It purges the body of anything foreign. So poisons, charms, glamours, everything really."

"Ok, sounds good." Harry then picked up a washcloth ready to keep Peter's face free of the sweat while the others got to work scrubbing out the burns.

Over the next hour, they could see the healing slowly start to increase as an insane amount of wolfsbane was sweating out of every pore on Peter's body. It was fairly potent even through the charms on the tub removing the wolfsbane from the water and still strong to the human noses in the room.

Harry saw that Peter had started twitching and he started murmuring to Peter in the hope that it would calm Peter down before he fully woke. "You're safe my wolf. I'm here, I will protect you." Said over and over as Peter started to wake.

Aaron saw the signs that Peter was on the verge of waking and he spelled the second purging potion into Peter's stomach as he pulled the other two medics away from the bed.

Harry took a step back when Peter sat up, eyes blazing electric blue as he roared in pain and grief.

"Peter!" Harry yelled, "You're ok, come on Peter."

Peter looked over, eyes still glowing ethereally. He frowned, "Harry?"

Harry cautiously moved closer, not quite within touching distance, "It's me. I came home early when I couldn't get in touch with you. Can I come closer?"

Peter nodded, as Harry approached he asked, "The kids, did you find the kids?"

Harry shook his head, "Not yet, its all been a bit of a clusterfuck. Charlie is here running point with our teams taking part in the investigation. Local sheriff, well, we will get to that once you are all finished with the purge."

Peter turned to Aaron and he asked, "Purge? That wolfsbane smell is from me?"

Aaron approached and he explained to Peter, "There was wolfsbane in the fire accelerant and you have been dosed with it while here at the hospital."

Peter nodded, he rasped, "More purging?"

"We need to keep going until we have cleared your system of the wolfsbane." Aaron explained, "We can't give you any pain relief as it will just process out of your system. Harry can distract you while the three of us work on the burns."

Peter agreed and nodded for them to keep going.

Harry sat by Peter's head and talked to him about his most recent trip to London. He explained the ruckus he caused in the Wizengamot with his vehement opposition to the bigoted werewolf laws they were trying to pass… again. Peter raised an eyebrow as if it ask if he was still getting shitty treatment from the ministry. Harry went on to explain using muggle transport to get home as the ministry lost his emergency portkey application. Twice.

Peter started growling, Harry wasn't sure if it was due to the travel woes Harry was explaining or the pain.

Aaron looked up at the sound of the growling, "Not much longer Peter, we are nearly done and we can apply the burn paste and dose you with the pain relief potion."

After another 20 minutes, they levitated Peter out of the tub and coated his remaining burns in burn paste to help his werewolf healing in healing the last of the burns.

Aaron handed over a pain relief potion to Peter then he opened the door and motioned for Charlie to enter.

"Boss." Peter murmured as he was getting dressed. "Sitrep?"

Charlie grinned, "Good to see you back on your feet Peter. We have finished the obliviates, according to everyone in town you broke your arm trying to get your family out and it was bad enough to require surgery which is why you are still here five days after the fire."

Peter grimaced, "I have to wear a cast don't I?"

Charlie nodded, "Noah's nurse friend Melissa will be up shortly to apply one that makes it look like you had surgery."

"Ugh," Peter grumbled, "Fine. What's happening with the investigation. Why are our teams here? Shouldn't the Sheriff be investigating?"

"Hell no," Harry exclaimed with a dark look on his face, "That asshole, Sheriff Tunley, had the case closed and marked the fire as an accidental fire. He and the others involved at the station are being investigated by your team and my team is doing an investigation of the hospital since we discovered you had been dosed with wolfsbane while you were a patient here and I was officially declared dead by the hospital medical examiner."

Peter raised his eyebrows as he demanded, "What the hell is going on? Where are the kids?"

Harry was about to answer but Charlie held up a hand to stop him. "So far we haven't been able to track down Laura or Derek, she did a runner with him as soon as he was released by the sheriff's office. We have confirmed that nine bodies were pulled out of the fire, you are the only one we know of that escaped the fire alive."

Peter frowned, "Nine? I know we got all the kids out after Talia killed Dr. Deaton. He was doing something to prevent anyone from escaping, we were about to follow the kids when the basement roof collapsed and blocked the tunnel entrance. But even if you include Deaton that's only seven people, not nine."

Charlie gripped his shoulder as he could see the grief rising in Peter. "We will find out, we brought our own medical examiners to do proper autopsies and victim identification. We are also hopeful that the inheritance test Aaron is running will help with narrowing down who is still alive."

Aaron walked over and checked the test and he saw it was finished. He glanced at it before he passed it to Peter. Peter without looking passed it to Harry, "Can you do it? I can't. I just can't, it's too soon."

Harry nodded, he gave Peter a half hug before he walked away to read the results. "Merlin!" He walked back to the group and he looked at Charlie, "I can't give you the results, but I can give you a list of those who died in the fire."

Charlie narrowed his eyes but he nodded his agreement. He would have a private word with Harry and Peter later to make sure this wasn't something serious. Charlie pulled out his notebook and pen, "Ok, give me the list."

Harry stood shoulder to shoulder with Peter as he read out, "Talia Hale, River Hale, Robert Hale, Tiffany Hale, Kristen Sands, and Javier Sands." He looked at Peter as he rolled up the parchment. "We need to talk privately about the rest of the results, my wolf."

Peter nodded, "So the kids are alive. We do need to find them. They may also have wolfsbane poisoning if they inhaled the smoke from the fire."

Aaron interjected, "Also if they ate the dinner that night, your last meal was laced in wolfsbane."

Peter swore viciously. "They will be in a safe location unless Laura got to them first."

Harry nudged him, "I can tell Cora is close, probably still in town, Laura and Derek are not, I can track them later, you, my wolf, are my priority, always."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "Saps, the pair of you. Harry when will Draco be here? I think we are going to need his legal advice on several aspects of the case. Especially with the corruption so widespread."

Harry checked his phone, "Tomorrow morning, he jumped on the first flight stateside this morning after I called when I found out Peter was in the hospital and I wasn't allowed to see him."

Charlie nodded and said, "Right, I will give you two some privacy, Bryant is still on guard outside for appearance's sake, Melissa should be up in," He checked his watch, "20 minutes to apply the cast."

Harry smiled, "Thanks, Charlie. Once that's done I will get him officially discharged and we will head out to find the kids. I would rather that just the two of us go, as the kids will be pretty spooked."

"Agreed." Charlie smiled sadly, "Let me know how you get on and if you need any help."

"Charlie?" Peter asked, "Make sure there is a BOLO out on Laura, she has effectively kidnapped Derek and if what I heard that crazy bitch screaming as the house burned he's going to be messed up emotionally and very vulnerable. I will give you a statement later, right now I need to find out what's got Harry so wound up and I need to make sure the kids are ok."

Harry handed Aaron his spare key, "Can you head to the apartment, we will bring the kids there once we have found them so they can be checked for wolfsbane poisoning."

Aaron nodded and packed up his scrub kit and potions box before he apparated out of the room.

Once everyone had left Harry put up heavy-duty silencing wards. He laid out the results in front of him.

"So…" Harry hesitated, he wasn't sure how to start.

"Just spit it out Harry," Peter said quietly, "It can't be any worse than finding out my siblings are dead."

Harry nodded, "It can, a little, I mean… ok, so the biggest bombshell in this is that your siblings were actually your mother, and your aunt and uncle and Laura, Derek and Cora are your siblings."

Peter sat heavily on the hospital bed. He croaked, "What?"

Harry pointed at the results and he explained, "So it seems that Talia had you when she was still in high school and for whatever reason, you were raised by your grandparents as their own child. Talia would have only been around 14 or 15 when you were born if my math is correct."

Peter put his head in his hands, "Fuck, so why not tell me before now?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know love. That's something only Talia could tell you. Are you ready to hear the rest?"

Peter nodded and said with a smirk, "Lay it on me, it can't be any worse than my sister being my mother."

Harry chuckled, "You're a dad."

Peter looked up, eyes wide in shock. "What? No! I have never cheated on you and I have never slept with a woman."

Peter snatched up the results, "Margaret Miller, I don't know that name."

Harry pointed at the results, "She died the day before your son was born according to the results. Going by his current last name he has been adopted."

"Fuck me sideways, I know that name," Peter exclaimed, "The Whittemores are a local family, I think Daniel, no David Whittemore is the District Attorney for Beacon County."

Harry nodded, "I remember dealing with him on a case, he hates Noah for some reason. We will need to check on Jackson at some point to make sure he is ok and to see if he is a wolf. Don't worry, my wolf, we will work it out once the current crisis is over."

Peter pulled Harry into a hug as he heard a knock on the door. "Let's get this cast done and we can go get me discharged so we can rescue the kids and get them checked out."

With a short term plan in place, they let Melissa and the cart she was pushing into the room so she could get the cast applied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**  
**January 2005**

"Neon pink, you just had to ask for a neon pink cast," Peter grumbled.

Harry chuckled and he said, "They only had a few colors available as its near month-end so the new months supplies haven't arrived yet. It was either neon pink, pumpkin orange or slime green. I went for the less evil, eye-bleeding color."

Peter pulled the sleeve of his shirt down over the cast and he vowed to get some thumbhole sweaters to cover the eye-bleeding cast until it was removed.

Once they were done getting Peter officially discharged from the hospital they had a quick word to Charlie in the meeting room by the lobby, they both promised to be at the hospital bright and early in the morning for an update on the investigation and they assured him they would bring Draco with them if he had arrived by then.

"Home first for a shower," Harry demanded, "Then we will head out to find the kids. They will be ok for an hour or so longer, Daniel knows what he's doing. We also need to go over your inheritance test."

Peter nodded in agreement and said, "Let's go, the sooner we can get the kids safe the sooner my wolf will relax."

Harry led them into an alley before he apparated them both home.

Aaron approached when they arrived at the apartment and he held out his hand. "Peter let me see the cast, I should be able to fix it so you can remove it when you are at home without it being obvious."

Peter sighed in relief, and he asked, "Will it need Harry to do it for me?"

Aaron shook his head, "I should be able to add a rune array to make it grow and shrink to the right sizes so you can just push the runes to slip it on and off." He tapped the cast with his wand so it grew enough for Peter to slip his arm out.

Peter almost ran to their bedroom, he shouted as he ran, "Freedom!"

Harry chuckled, "He really doesn't like wearing the cast, so if you can add the runes it will save me trying to figure it out later." Harry looked back towards the bedroom and he waited until he could hear the shower starting before he said a muffling charm.

"Look, I hate to ask on top of everything else," Harry started, he sighed before he continued, "Do you have a calming draught on you that is werewolf strength? Something I saw in Peter's inheritance test results is likely to be quite distressing, especially since he doesn't have his sis… mother around to get answers from."

Aaron raised his eyebrows, "I figured this was coming when I saw the results and I added one from my stores to my kit before I came here. I grabbed enough for the kids too. It won't knock him on his ass, it will just take the edge off."

Harry pocketed the potion when Aaron handed it over, he gave Aaron's shoulder a quick squeeze in thanks then he headed off to the bedroom to await Peter.

As Peter was getting dressed he looked pensively at Harry. "I can smell your nerves and the calming draught in your pocket so it must be pretty bad."

Harry tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace, he said, "It does depend on your point of view. How much of your inheritance test did you read?"

Peter smirked as he huffed, "You mean where my biological father is a hunter, the older brother to the one that tried to annihilate my entire family? It was very likely a first attempt by the Argents to annihilate my family. I don't know why Talia never taught the kids about the hunter families."

Harry held out the calming draught and he asked, "Do you need or even want this?"

Peter shook his head and confirmed, "I will be fine, I just need to process the fact that Christopher Argent is my father and my sister is actually my mother. I wonder if Christopher even knows he's my father?"

Harry shrugged and he asked, "Would Talia leave any explanations in her will or her safe deposit box? There are sealed files in the copies of the paperwork she left us."

"It's entirely possible," Peter mused, "Or being the arrogant bitch she was known to be she wouldn't have said a word. To either me or Christopher."

Harry walked over and pulled Peter into a hug, "We can ask Christopher. If Kate was involved he will likely be brought in for questioning to see if he was involved. You know we will need to tell Charlie. This adds a possible motive."

"Fuck!" Peter held his hand out and Harry handed over the calming draught. "The bitch seduced Derek, she stood out there yelling about how Derek gave up all our secrets for a fuck, she told us they had been fucking for months."

Harry raised his eyebrows, "So she's both unhinged and a sexual predator. According to our records, she's 30ish. Wow. Let's go get the kids then we can write out your statement for Charlie."

Peter looked Harry up and down and he suggested, "You might want to get changed into clothes you don't mind wearing in a cave, add warming charms too."

Harry nodded and he dived into the closet for a change of clothes.

They walked back out to the living room and Harry worked on creating a portkey with a piece of rope to bring them back to the apartment once they found the kids.

"Harry?" Peter asked, "Why did you have to fly back the muggle way if you can create portkeys?"

Harry smirked and he answered, "Because I can create local portkeys, but international portkeys are heavily regulated and using an illegal international portkey can result in jail time."

"Oh, will the kids be ok using a portkey?" Peter asked with a look of worry on his face.

Harry nodded and he explained, "The younger ones may get a bit disorientated but they will all be fine. Are we going to the vault under the school?"

Peter nodded and he said, "Yep, but it will be a fair walk as they should be in one of the panic rooms which is in one of the tunnel branches."

"I have been to the locker rooms with you in the past so I can apparate us there. Its Sunday so they should be empty. Sound good?" Harry asked.

"Perfect, there is an extra entrance at the back of the locker rooms to the vault," Peter explained. "We can use that entrance without being seen."

Harry held out his hand and pulled Peter close with a quick wave to Aaron and a pop they were gone.

Peter led them to the back of the locker room and he found the grooves in the wall that allowed him to unlock the vault with his claws. With a quick 'snict' he had his claws released, he pushed them into the grooves and with a deft turn, he had the vault door opened.

Peter saw Harry pull his wand and he put his hand on Harry's arm and shook his head. He explained, "The tunnels all light automatically. I am not sure how they just do."

Harry turned to look down the tunnel and he waved Peter forward, "Lead on McDuff."

Peter shot him a filthy look but he led Harry down into the tunnels. The vault door closed automatically behind them. They walked for about 45 minutes through various vaults filled with various things. Peter commented, "We can come back and look through the vaults later, it would be good to see what's around."

Peter stopped before a large door and he put his hand on Harry's chest to stop him walking into him. "Shh, I can hear them, 7 heartbeats, all slow, shit a bit too slow."

Peter moved to the grooves by the door and with another quick 'snict' and twist he had the door open.

They both walked in and shut the door behind them. They saw all the kids asleep on the sofas spread out around the room. When shaking a few of them didn't work Peter asked, "Can you rennervate them?"

Harry looked at the kids and he decided, "Let me go and get Aaron and his medical kit, I can apparate him straight here rather than through the tunnels. I think that will be safer."

Harry apparated away with a quick pop. Peter pulled his t-shirt off and he used the kitchenette to it down before he started wiping down the worst of the soot from the kid's faces. He commented, "We need to add cleaning supplies to the panic rooms."

Harry and Aaron arrived back both laden down with a box of potions. Aaron got to work starting with the youngest running diagnostic charms. He looked up, "Harry you need to get one of the medics here to run diagnostics on the kids before I start treatment for the case files."

Harry looked at Peter with an eyebrow raised to ask permission, Peter looked over and he said, "Simon please, he's better at dealing with stressed-out kids than Jennifer."

Harry gave Simon a call and he asked him to get to Peter's room in the hospital ASAP. Harry then popped away to fetch Simon.

Five minutes later Harry was back with an armload of washcloths and Simon raced over to help Aaron with the diagnostic charms.

Harry passed over some of the washcloths, "Let's get the kids cleaned up a bit while Aaron and Simon work on getting them awake."

They worked quietly, wiping the soot from each of the kids. They had a quick word with Aaron about who to wake first. Harry suggested Daniel as he could wrangle the kids and Cora who was closest to her 'Uncle Peter'.

"Before we wake them all," Aaron started to explain, "You will need to keep them on a potions regimen for a few days at the least for smoke inhalation and wolfsbane exposure. We can deal with most of it without a purging potion but they have to take the potions I prescribe them or I will they will have to take the purging potion at some point in the future."

Harry smirked, "I can show them a memory of your purge Peter, that should stop any shenanigans."

Peter shuddered, "Evil, that's just evil."

Aaron led them over to Daniel. "Simon, are you all done collecting evidence?"

Simon nodded as he explained, "Full diagnostic charms plus a few extras to give us a timeline and wolfsbane strains."

Harry squeezed his shoulder in thanks, "Thanks, Simon. Can you get those back to Charlie and tell him we will see him in the morning for the briefing."

"Sure thing Boss," Simon confirmed before he apparated away.

Harry waved his wand to remove Simon's scent pile from the panic room they were in as Aaron started treating Daniel for wolfsbane poisoning and smoke inhalation.

Daniel woke with a roar but calmed down when he saw Peter crouching beside the sofa.

"Daniel?" Peter asked gently.

Daniel looked at Peter and he asked, "They are gone?"

Peter nodded, "We have confirmed that Talia, River, Robert, Tiffany, Kristen, and Javier all died in the fire with Alan Deaton. There were two others pulled out of the wreckage but we don't know who they are… were."

Peter pulled Daniel in for a hug when he saw his face crumple. "You still have us, Daniel. First thing tomorrow we will have Draco petition for custody of all of you with the courts. Trust me… no, trust us, kiddo."

Daniel nodded and he squeezed tighter. He looked around at the other kids passed out on the various sofas around the room, he asked, "Are they all ok?"

Aaron nodded as he moved to Cora and he explained, "You all had mild wolfsbane poisoning that was slowly getting worse and a fair amount of smoke inhalation which is why you all passed out. I have the potions here to clear your lungs and start clearing the wolfsbane from your systems. You'll all need to take potions to clear the wolfsbane out completely over the next few days."

Daniel nodded, he moved to stand by Harry as Peter crouched beside Cora.

Harry pulled Aaron out of the way as soon as the last potion was administered. He knew Cora had a habit of coming up swinging when she was woken abruptly.

He was proven right when Peter had to move fast to catch her wrists before her claws made contact with his face. For a 10-year-old she was feisty, just like her uncles taught her to be.

"Cora!" Peter called, she turned and leaped into his arms. "Mama's gone, Uncle Peter. I can't feel her anymore." She burst into tears.

Peter held her while she cried. Harry and Daniel helped Aaron with waking the other kids.

When Cora was all cried out Peter asked, "Lil Bit? What pack bonds can you feel?"

Cora leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. Her eyes opened in surprise as she explained, "I can feel all of us kids, you and Derek. Where is Laura?"

Peter closed his eyes in resignation, he asked, "How does Derek's bond feel?"

Cora shuddered and said, "Guilt, so much guilt Uncle Peter."

Peter pulled her into a hug. He looked up and he saw that all the kids were awake.

He led Cora over to Harry and Aaron and he asked, "Are we good to go? I want to get the kids settled in and I think Harry needs to see if he has an update from Draco."

Aaron looked over the kids and said, "Yep, I want you to keep an eye on Daisy, she seemed to have a higher concentration of wolfsbane in her system. She should be good with the potions I have prescribed, but you will both need to keep a close eye on her."

Harry and Peter both nodded in agreement, Harry held out the rope and said, "Right, everyone grab hold of the rope and no matter what don't let go until you see Peter and I both let go."

Everyone grabbed hold of the rope, the older kids also put their arms around the younger kids to help them with the magical transport.

Harry spoke the portkey activation word, "doughnut" and they all felt the pull behind their navel as they were whisked away to Peter and Harry's apartment.

When they landed the kids all wolfed out when they smelled a stranger in the apartment.

Draco held his hands up in surrender. Harry moved in front of him and said, "He's ok, he's with us. This is Draco Malfoy, he's our lawyer. He's going to help us file for custody of you all so we can keep you guys with us and make sure that the people who tried to kill the pack are put in jail where they belong."

Daniel spoke up as the oldest, he asked, "Uncle Harry, is he like you? A wizard?"

Harry nodded, and he explained, "Draco and I went to Hogwarts together. Maybe if you ask him nicely he will tell you some stories about our time there."

The kids all smiled in anticipation. They found it hard to get stories from Harry about his school days.

Peter walked into the kitchen and he pulled out some of the ready-made meals from the cupboard. He called out, "Harry, can you check the stasis charms on these, the kids must be starving."

Harry walked over to check enlarging the dining table on his way over. He asked, "Draco, Aaron, are you guys hungry, do you want dinner?"

They both called out a "Yes, please," as they herded the kids to the enlarged dining table. Draco conjured some booster seats for the younger kids as Peter and Harry started carrying plates to the table.

Harry said, "These should be perfect meals for a hungry growing wolf pack."

The kids all tucked in, the panic room had food but it was more protein bars and other food that would keep for a long time, not so much with the tasty.

Harry asked, "Daniel do you know of any babysitters that know about wolves?"

Peter cleared his throat before Daniel could answer and he said quietly, "Harry, no babysitters, I think we need to hire some personal security. If Kate finds out the kids survived she will be gunning for them to finish the job."

"F…udgecakes," Harry exclaimed, he looked at Draco and he asked, "Is Blaize still running his security business?"

Draco nodded, "I have his card here if you want to call him. I recommend having one with you and Peter as well, maybe get someone to shadow you wearing that cloak of yours." He pulled a business card out of his wallet and handed it to Harry.

Harry looked at the card then at Peter, "Two here, one obviously guarding us, and one under the cloak?"

Peter asked, "Yes, and two-step intent wards on the apartment with a trip to the arctic on the second attempt?"

Harry smirked, "I love your brain." Harry moved to his office to make the call.

When he came back ten minutes later he was smiling. He explained, "Blaize is coming over as part of a team of 6. Four to do guard duty on the apartment and two for shadowing us when we are on duty. Blaize is going to take the task of shadowing us under the cloak since he's already taken the vow I require to use the cloak."

"Draco I will set you and Blaize's team up in the apartment next door," Peter explained as he walked over to get the keys.

Draco asked, "Who else is he sending?"

Harry looked down at the post-it note and he said, "Flint, Nott, Lovegood, Bones, Longbottom and himself."

Draco snarked, "Slytherins and the DA. It should be a fun mix. Thinking Flint and Blaize shadowing you both and the other four guarding the kids."

Harry nodded in agreement, he stood and gestured to the kids who were quiet in their grief, "Come on kids, let's get you set up in the guest rooms. Tomorrow we will get you some clothes and other thinks to keep you busy while we hunt down the hunters."

The kids all stood and followed Harry like little ducklings.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**  
**January 2005**

Half an hour later, Harry, Aaron, and Peter walked back into the living room.

Harry explained to Draco, "Aaron gave the kids all a dose of dreamless sleep potion so they would get a good sleep before tomorrow's questioning."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "They will be questioned?"

Peter wriggled his hand in a so-so motion, "Not officially, more getting info we can use to find evidence in prosecuting the Argents and their accomplices."

Harry asked, "Peter? I heard you asking Cora about pack bonds…"

Peter put his head in his hands and shook his head, he said, "I can't feel anyone but the kids in the guest rooms. Laura and Derek are gone from my pack bonds. Cora could feel Derek and all she could feel was guilt, an overwhelming sense of guilt."

Harry snarled, "What I want to know is, why aren't you the alpha? You were next in line, I recall Talia saying that if anything happened to her, that you would be the next alpha. I remember her explaining that she wouldn't do the ritual to make Laura her heir until she had finished her training. Laura wasn't scheduled to start her alpha training until after she had graduated from college."

Peter leaned back on the sofa and he asked Harry quietly, "Did I die?"

Harry pulled him sideways into a hug and he placed a gentle kiss on the top of Peter's head, he quietly replied, "No sweetheart, I would know if you died due to our bond, and you definitely didn't die."

Draco leaned forward and he asked, "So what dark ritual has she done to circumvent the alpha ascension?"

Peter signed and he asked, "Are we sure Laura is the alpha?"

Harry shook his head and he said, "Well no, we won't know for sure until we find her and Derek. But, honestly, it wouldn't go to Derek, he's too young and none of the kids are the alpha so unless someone else survived the fire that we don't know about…"

Draco commented, "It would also explain why Derek's pack bond to Peter was cut. The only way Derek would cut that bond is if he is forced to by an alpha command."

Peter nodded in agreement, he confirmed, "No, he wouldn't."

They heard a knock on the door and Draco stood to answer. He turned and said, "It's Blaise and his team. He texted and let me know he was on his way."

Peter frowned and he asked, "How did they get here so quick?"

Harry shrugged, "We will have to ask, I am curious as well. I wish I had done what Draco did and flew to New York instead of San Francisco. It would have been a much quicker trip home."

Peter nudged his shoulder and said, "You will know for next time."

Harry leaned on Peter's shoulder and grumbled, "I wish there didn't need to be a next time. The bastards keep forcing me to go back to confirm Draco is actually voting how I want to vote. They seem to think I want bigoted laws in place."

A rich deep aristocratic voice interrupted and said, "Well, that's what living in the dark ages gets you."

Harry looked up but didn't move from Peter's shoulder. "Zabini… and others."

Draco moved back to the living room and conjured sofas for everyone to sit on and summoned bottles of soda for everyone before he did the introductions.

Luna walked over and she pulled both Peter and Harry into a hug and she gave them both a kiss on the cheek before going to sit between Neville and Marcus on one of the sofas.

Draco crouched down in front of Harry and Peter, "Go to bed. Let me sort the team out and get the night shift set up for guarding the kids, I will set an alarm to wake us all up before the kids. Aaron factored in werewolves when he gave them dreamless sleep so they shouldn't wake till morning."

Harry looked at him tiredly, he asked, "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Draco nodded, "Aaron said Peter will still need rest after the purging of the wolfsbane. So both of you go to bed."

They stood and pulled the stuffy man into a hug, both of them giggling when he started to struggle and whine about suffocating.

"Night all." They chorused before they headed to bed, they checked on the kids and redid the monitoring wards on the kids on the way to bed.

Back in the living room Susan looked at Draco and said, "He looked knackered Draco."

Draco nodded, and he explained, "Harry arrived home at 6 am local time after a long flight home, since the ministry still fuck us around when it comes to portkeys. So he was already tired and then he found out his in-law's family had been attacked and his partner was in a coma and he was denied access and it has all gone downhill since then. He hasn't had a break all day and it's likely to be the same until we catch the bastards that attacked the Hales."

Blaise sighed, "Their teams are investigating? From what Harry said on the phone they already have a fair idea which hunter family is involved, they just need to find the proof?"

Draco confirmed, "Yes, one of the Argents was standing outside the house screaming about how she seduced Peter's nephew who had just turned 15 and how he gave away all their secrets for a quick roll in the hay. I haven't told Harry yet but I suspect they have drugged him somehow but we can't test him until we find him. Laura has left town with him and it seems they both cut their pack bond to Peter."

Luna snorted, and she huffed, "As if that would stop Harry from tracking his favorite nephew."

Neville agreed, "Harry said he had parselmagic trackers on the kids Peter saw often, only another parseltongue could hide the kids from him."

They spent the next hour refining the plans for guarding the kids. It was confirmed that Flint would overtly shadow Peter and Harry and Blaise would shadow the three of them under the cloak. Nott and Lovegood would guard the kids in the daytime and Bones and Longbottom would take the nightshift, one in each of their rooms. Draco showed them to the apartment they would all be occupying across the hall. Draco explained that Harry and Peter bought the entire floor so they could guarantee their privacy.

-x-

At a late breakfast the next morning Harry and Peter spent time explaining to the kids that the pack was still in danger and that they would have guards on them 24/7 until the hunters who set fire to the house were found.

"So we have six guards all up," Harry explained, "Two of them will be with Peter and me whenever we are out of the apartment. Marcus Flint," Marcus waved, "will be with us out in the open, he will be introduced as an investigator from Scotland Yard who is ensuring there is no continuing threat to a peer of the realm."

Daisy interrupted, "Uncle Harry? What's a pear in the realm mean? Why is the police investigating if a pear is a threat?" It was not an easy concept for a six-year-old to understand.

Harry crouched down beside her but spoke up so everyone could hear him, he asked, "Do you remember how I said I am known as Lord Potter when I am in Britain?" The kids all nodded so he continued, "That makes me what's called a peer of the realm. Any threats against a Lord or the Lord's family are investigated as possible threats. You all are my family so you come under that protection."

Daisy leaned forward and hugged Harry, she whispered, "I like being your family, you make Uncle Peter smile more."

Peter let Harry have his snuggle time with Daisy and he took over the explanation, "So Blaise here," This time Blaise waved, "Will be shadowing myself, Harry and Marcus under Harry's cloak so if anyone does get to Marcus they won't know about Blaise."

They all turned as there was a rushed knock on the apartment door. Harry knew it was someone trusted as they go through the wards so he picked up Daisy and balanced her on his hip and he walked to the door and opened it.

"Noah?" He asked when he saw Noah and his son on the doorstep. "Come in, both of you."

Harry led the two to the kitchen where Draco had conjured a few extra seats for the pair. Peter stood and he offered, "Have a seat, are you hungry? Coffee? Juice?"

Noah nodded distractedly and he said, "Sorry for just barging in on you like this but I didn't know who else to trust." Stiles leaned into him and wrapped him into a hug, "I dropped Stiles off at school and I was heading to the station to meet up with Agent McCord to assist with his investigation of the Sheriff and I saw that Stiles had left his lunch in the car, when I got back to the school to leave it in the school office for him I saw he was being dragged away by a stranger."

Stiles piped up, "I was doing what you said, making it hard for them to do it without being seen."

Noah hugged Stiles tighter, "You did kiddo, and I will be having words with the school that they weren't paying attention to the point you could be snatched in broad daylight."

Peter walked back into the dining room with a coffee laced with a dash of calming draught for Noah and a juice for Stiles. "Noah, hold that thought, did you catch the guy?" Noah nodded. "Then how about we add that into our investigation. It is likely it's all related. It was fairly common knowledge by the end of yesterday that you're assisting us with our investigation of the fire. You have a reputation for being incorruptible so it's likely that Stiles was targeted so you could be blackmailed into steering the investigation the way they wanted it."

"Hell," Noah exclaimed, "I can't lose Stiles, he's all I have left."

Harry walked over and crouched beside Stiles, he asked, "Hey kiddo, you doing ok?" Stiles nodded, still a bit shocked at being grabbed by a stranger but his natural curiosity was taking over. Harry asked, "Can you keep secrets, from everyone? Even your best friend?"

Stiles nodded and looked to his dad for backup.

Noah said to him, "This is bigger than your mommas magic secret Stiles. Much bigger, you can't tell anyone except those already in this room."

Stiles looked around and he nodded, but he saw Harry had his eyes narrowed on Noah.

Harry asked, "Magic secret?"

Noah nodded, "Not the same as yours I don't think. She was known as a spark but she didn't use her magic, she was trying to hide. I never found out why or what from. She suspected that Stiles would manifest as a spark as he got older which is the only reason she told us at all."

Harry stood as he saw the look of curiosity spark in Peter's eyes, he put his hand on Peter's forearm to forestall the question torrent he could see coming and he asked Noah, "After we are done with this investigation can we do some diagnostics on Stiles and see what's going on with his magic? There is a reason your wife was hiding, it could have something to do with Stiles and his magic." He turned to Stiles, crouching again so he was at Stiles eye level, "The secrets I am going to let you in on would be considered MOAS secrets. Do you know what that is?"

Stiles gave Harry a 'duh' face and he said, "Mother of All Secrets. A secret that is so big that telling the secret could get someone killed. Right?"

Harry nodded, and Peter moved to join Harry in the crouch in front of Stiles. Peter said, "We have a big secret each, it's my secret that has people trying to hurt you to force your Dad to do something illegal."

Stiles giggled and he snarked, "Like that's gonna happen. Dad's a good deputy, he would burn the world to rescue me but…" He looked at Peter and he asked, "So, what's your secret then? Are you one of the werewolves Momma talked about?"

Peter's jaw dropped in surprise, he asked, "You knew about us already?"

Stiles shook his head, he explained, "Not really. Momma told me that werewolves exist, but she never who they were. I only worked it out because I figured if there are creatures like werewolves in the world, then it makes sense that there are also werewolf hunters and there isn't much else that would push someone into setting a house on fire with the entire family trapped inside."

Noah smirked, "11 going on 40…"

Harry looked up and he asked Noah, "Would you both mind staying with us until the investigation is over? We can organize tutors for Stiles so he doesn't fall behind at school. I think it will be safer if he is in protective custody with Peter's family."

Stiles tugged on Harry's sleeve and he asked, "Can Kaa stay too?"

Noah facepalmed, "Stiles, I can ask if Tara or one of the other deputies to feed Kaa."

Harry had a suspicion, he looked at Stiles and he asked, "Is Kaa a snake?"

Stiles nodded and explained, "He's my boa constrictor, he's my best friend and he's really well behaved. He misses me though when I am at school."

Harry had a hunch so he pictured a snake and he asked in parseltongue, "How do you know?"

Stiles looked at him and tilted his head and in parseltongue, he replied, "Becausse he told me. How elsse would I know?"

Harry grinned, as he heard the Slytherins in the room all gasp in shock. Noah shook his head and ruffled Stiles' hair.

Peter looked at Noah as Stiles told Harry all about Kaa in parseltongue and he asked, "Does Stiles have a terrarium for Kaa?"

Noah nodded, and he replied, "Kaa doesn't stay in it much but yeah he has a terrarium. He seems to prefer hanging off Stiles whenever he is at home or sleeping on Stiles' bed."

Harry had a silent conversation with Peter in eyebrow and head tilts before he offered, "Noah, how about we go and get what you need for you and Stiles to stay at least a week at this stage and whatever we need for Kaa before we head to the hospital for a meeting with Charlie." He turned to Marcus and Blaise and he asked, "Are you both ready for a quick excursion? It's possible if they went for Stiles they might be waiting at the house."

Marcus smirked and snarked, "Let them try. I just need to go change into my uniform."

Blaise silently left the room with Marcus. They both returned a few minutes later in outfits that looked similar to a typical Army uniform except it was mostly a dark-colored dragon hide.

Stiles pulled on Harry's sleeve again while they were waiting on Marcus and Blaise. He said, "You will need to explain to Kaa what happened or he won't want to leave. He can be a bit stubborn."

Harry smirked and said, "Most snakes are quite stubborn and very loyal but don't worry, I have experience in talking even the most stubborn snakes around." He winked at Draco who snickered.

Noah crouched down, "Please behave, Stiles, these kids have been through hell this week and they are all missing their parents. You know Cora and Eric from school, chill out with them and try to help keep their mind off what's going on. I will contact the school about getting all of your assignments for you."

Stiles leaned in and gave Noah a tight hug, he pleaded, "Stay safe Daddy."

Harry led Noah, Marcus, and Blaise out to the hallway. He asked Noah, "Will it be safe if we appear outside the bathroom upstairs? I remember you have wards to prevent apparating out but not in."

Noah nodded and he confirmed, "That will be safe, out of view of the stairs so if anyone does look up the stairs they won't see us."

Blaise cleared his throat, "Disillusionment charms too. Just to be on the safe side."

Harry nodded in agreement. He did the charm on each of them in parseltongue just incase they have magicals working for them.

"Grab on," Harry demanded before he disillusioned himself, "Let's go."

They appeared in the upper landing of the Stilinski home and they heard crashes coming from downstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**  
**January 2005**

After Harry, Noah, and their guards left Peter cleared his throat to call attention back to himself. "Well," he said sardonically, "Since Harry has gone off to be all impulsive… again… let me finish the introductions. Kids, you guys are here under protective custody. I think everyone but Stiles has met Draco at some point?" They all nodded in agreement, even four-year-old Bryce, "He is going to be filing a court motion so that we can officially take custody of you all. This will hopefully keep you from being separated or put in a foster situation with humans. Draco will work with my boss Charlie to push this through with minimal fuss."

Draco stood and moved beside Peter and he asked, "Let me do the introduction of their guards?" Peter nodded and went to sit beside Cora.

Draco motioned to each guard as he introduced them, "You guys are getting four guards, Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, Theodore Nott, and Luna Lovegood. They will be working in pairs, one team with be with you at all times, the other guarding the doors or windows."

Stiles frowned and he asked, "They don't sleep?"

Draco grinned and with a bad pantomime of 'jazz hands' he just said, "Magic."

Stiles poked his tongue out at Draco and he pouted while the other kids giggled quietly.

Draco continued, "These guys all went to school with Harry and myself so if you ask nicely you might be able to drag some stories about Harry's adventures out of them."

Neville looked at Peter and he asked, "Does Harry still have his map?"

Peter nodded and he explained, "He does but it's stored away in his locket. It's one of the last things he has from his father and godfathers. It's stored with his broom, photo album, and cloak when they aren't in use.

Neville smiled and said, "I will ask him about it when he gets back. Right now though, I am going to go and put my guard plants on your balconies."

Daniel frowned and he asked, "Guard… plants?"

Theo grinned, it was not a nice grin, he explained, "Neville has a collection of Devil's Snare, Venomous Tentacula, and Mimbulus Mimbletonia plants which work effectively as protection in plain sight. To anyone on the street, they will look like normal house plants, but if anyone goes too close to the Devil's Snare or the Tentacula they will be wrapped tightly in vines until they are found. If they somehow manage to avoid those two wily plants, Neville sets up a second line with the Mimbulus Mimbletonia which sprays like a skunk but its spray is super sticky and very stinky which will alert anyone nearby that it's gone off."

Celeste perked up, "Can we watch him set them out?"

Theo checked with Luna and Susan who both nodded, they would be following Neville to spell the windows from the inside to make sure they can't be opened. "Sure thing, Susan needs to spell the windows so they can't be opened accidentally and Luna has some creatures to add to the rooms for additional protection so you can go with them. You have to listen to their instructions though, ok?"

Celeste nodded and she grabbed Daisy's hand and they got up to follow Susan and Luna. Theo was staying in the dining room with Peter, Draco, and the other kids.

Draco had a notebook out and he asked, "Peter? What's on your list for today? So far I have filing a temporary custody order, follow up on the investigations, look into…" He glanced over at the children who were all pretending to not listen in, "the other custody issue you mentioned."

Peter tapped his finger on the table while he tried to put his thoughts in order, "Top of my list would be finding Derek and Laura. Can you make sure Derek is included in the motion you file today?"

Draco nodded, "We will need to find the wills for Robert, Tiffany, Kirsten, and Javier just to make sure they didn't have other arrangements for the kids. We are hopeful that they are in either the vault or in the safety deposit box at the bank."

Peter glanced at Daniel and he said, "Traditionally paperwork like that was stored in the main vault. We can check it out after we find Derek and Laura."

-x-

At the Stilinski house, they could hear a lot of frustrated cursing coming from downstairs as things were being thrown but there were no typical sounds of smashing or breaking glass which they would have expected, Harry looked down and he saw a large green boa constrictor heading their way. He held up a hand indicating for the rest of the group to hold.

Harry quietly hissed, "Kaa?"

The snake lifted its head and hissed, "Sspeaker! Do you know my hatchling?"

Harry smiled and nodded, he hissed, "Stiles sent us, we are going to take you to him so you can help keep him safe."

Kaa looked towards the stairs then back to the group and he hissed, "You will bite the intruders?"

Harry smirked and he nodded, he picked Kaa up from the floor and draped him around his shoulders. He was still a young snake so he wasn't overly heavy. Harry just hoped he got on well with his guard snakes.

Harry looked to Blaise and he signed, "Can you use the cloak and quietly knock them out?"

Blaise smiled and pulled Harry's cloak out of his storage and he draped it over his shoulders. Harry cast a silent homenum revelio and found there were five intruders downstairs while Blaise worked on silencing his feet and disillusioning himself as a backup. Harry held out five sets of portkey handcuffs that would transport the intruders to the magical holding cells used by the various supernatural FBI Teams which Blaise reached out and he put them in a pocket on the front of his combat vest.

He signed to where he could see the outline of Blaise's head, "Two in the front of the house, the kitchen or the front hall I think. Three are in the living room at the bottom of the stairs."

Blaise nodded and he flipped the hood of the invisibility cloak up and over his head and he headed down the stairs to capture some intruders.

Harry tapped Noah on the shoulder and gestured him to his bedroom to start quietly packing a go-bag, he signed to Marcus to stand fast and keep watch on the stairs to make sure no one tried to check the upper level. He then headed to Stiles room to start packing a bag for the kid with help and advice from Kaa, the snake wouldn't let him forget anything important to Stiles, or his favorite warming rock.

Blaise moved slowly down the stairs as he wasn't sure if the intruders were magical or just human hunters out to cause trouble. At the bottom of the stairs, he slowly looked around the wall and checked out the location of the intruders. At a glance, they looked like hunters based on the many weapons they had strapped on.

Blaise had to giggle to himself, they were trying to smash larger items but everything was just bouncing. A few of the larger items like the flatscreen TV had bounced back hard enough to leave bruises. He hoped Claudia had left a notebook with the warding spells she used as that one could be good for a prank spell. He poked his wand out of the cloak and sent silent stunners to the three hunters, he quietly moved to them placing the portkey handcuffs on each of them, pressing the rune to move them to an active state when they are secured and he watched them vanish as he whispered the password before he turned to find the other two hunters who were busy in the front of the house.

Blaise moved to the stairs and using a series of taps he let Marcus know that three hunters were waiting in the holding cells and that he was moving to capture the remaining two. Marcus moved his sentry point to the bottom of the stairs while Blaise slowly made his way to the front of the house.

Blaise silently did another pass of homenum revelio, he noticed that there were still two hunters but one was stationed by the front door and the other was still in the kitchen.

He slowly moved so he was behind the hunter stationed at the front door and he cast a silent petrificus totalus, he stood ready as he knew that when the hunter hit the floor it would attract the attention of the hunter in the kitchen. He could have used immobulus to freeze the hunter in place but he liked the thought of using the hunter to attract the attention of the fifth hunter, as well as the thought of the hunter hitting the floor face first. As predicted when the fifth hunter heard the noise of his mate hitting the floor he ran through to check on his colleague, Blaise sent a silent stunner knocking him out clean. He used the portkey cuffs on the fifth hunter, making sure to press the rune to activate them.

Blaise ran another pass of homenum revelio to be on the safe side but only found his team and the two captured hunters. He removed the disillusionment spell and he took off the cloak as he moved to the living room.

"I have one in a body bind and one stunned waiting for transport in the entryway. Can you let Harry know in case he wants to question them?" Blaise asked.

Marcus nodded and he headed up the stairs to inform Harry and Noah that the coast was clear.

Blaise moved back to the entryway and turned the petrified hunter over so he wasn't lying face down on the floor. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

Harry moved to the petrified hunter and he said, "Blink once for yes, twice for no." The hunter rolled his eyes.

Harry shrugged and he let Kaa move so he was looking at the hunter from about half a foot away before he asked, "Is it just five of you here?"

The hunter stubbornly kept his eyes open.

Harry asked, "Are you aware that you will be charged by the supernatural branch of the FBI."

The hunter's eyes widened slightly but still refused to blink.

Harry paused, he was done with stubborn, pigheaded hunters, he asked, "Are you working with the Argent family?"

When the hunter again refused to answer Harry stated, "Another one for interrogation by Veritaserum. Blaise, can you please stun him and get him ready for transport?"

Blaise nodded and he moved forward, he smirked and said, "I wonder if they realize that under Veritaserum there will be absolutely no secrets, that they will spill all of their secrets."

The hunter started to look around rapidly, as if he could escape the binds, the last thing he could remember is being hit with a bright red light.

Once the stunner connected Blaise cast a finite incantatem to remove the body bind so he could cuff the hunter before murmuring the password to send them both to individual holding cells.

Blaise looked to Harry and he asked, "Are you all done upstairs?"

Harry picked up Kaa and he smiled as he answered, "Noah is just packing a few uniforms as well as a couple of suits. If I get my way he will be seconded to us for a while. He's also making sure Stiles has enough medication to last a few weeks, just in case."

Once they had everything Noah and Stiles would need for a few weeks away, Harry gathered them around and he created a portkey to the spare apartment that Stiles and Noah would be using, they all gripped on, including Kaa who bit the rope with many many hissed complaints about dirty ropes.

Harry helped Noah place everything in their apartment before he escorted everyone to his own apartment for updates. When he arrived he passed Kaa to Stiles who started hissing up a storm to get updates on what happened at the house. Harry hissed, "I don't mind you assking for info, but pleasse keep what Kaa tells you to yoursself."

Luna and Neville pulled Harry aside so they could give an update on the protections, Peter followed out of curiosity. Neville explained, "I have my usual guard plants on the various balconies, and Luna has introduced the kids to the billywigs and swooping evil which have all stationed themselves around the kid's rooms to give added protection."

Harry nodded and he looked to Luna as she looked like she wanted to ask a question.

Luna smiled and she asked, "Are your teenage basilisks up to the task of protection? Will Kaa be safe?"

Harry nodded, and he said, "I have three with me now, two are permanetely at Grimmauld Place in London, keeping guard against Weasels. I will introduce the triplets to Kaa so they can all patrol around this floor, there are tunnels in the walls just for the various snakes I have."

Luna sighed, she was still angry that the Weasley family, with the exception of the Twins, Bill and Charlie, chose to very publically and loudly break with Harry over the fact he repaid a debt he owed to the Malfoys by speaking up at their hearings. Well the hearings for Narcissa and Draco, as far as he was concerned he had hoped that Lucius would earn the kiss. She asked, "What about puffskeins?"

Harry shook his head, and he explained, "There is not enough time to train them."

Peter chucked and he said, "It sounds like a good story there."

Luna nodded and she asked, "Can you bring in the basilisks so they can meet everyone, know who is safe and so you can introduce Kaa before you head to your meeting with Charlie?"

Harry returned a few minutes later with three gorgeous snakes draped over his shoulders, he introduced them to everyone, "This is Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, they are teenage basilisks which is why they are each about three foot long. They will be moving throughout the various apartments on this floor to make sure there are no intruders if you could let each of them taste you so they will know the difference between friend and intruder."

Stiles looked up and he asked, "Gorgons? Of course, you named your basilisks that can turn people to stone with a look after the gorgons in mythology. Nice."

Harry took the three snakes around the room letting them scent everyone including Kaa before he released them to start patrolling. He turned to Blaise and he asked, "Are you both ready? It's likely that after our meeting with Charlie we will be heading straight to Derek before Laura finds a way to block his tracking spell.

-x-

Meanwhile in a seedy hotel in Detroit.

"We can't keep him bound forever," Laura stated firmly.

Kate rolled her eyes and said, "He never seemed to mind being bound when he thought I loved him."

A/N

Hat tip to RuneWitchSakura on FFNet and their story Harry's Little Army of Psychos and to myredturtle for linking me to something so awesome.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**  
**January 2011**

"Charlie!" Peter called out, letting their boss know they had arrived.

Charlie smiled and turned to greet his Senior Agents. "Peter, Harry. How are the kids settling in?"

Peter rubbed his hand down his face in frustration, He answered, "I want to say fine, but they really aren't. They were dehydrated and suffering from smoke inhalation when we found them. We have them under guard in the apartment with Deputy Stilinski's son."

Charlie frowned and he asked, "Why?"

Harry scowled and he explained, "Someone tried to snatch Stiles this morning at the school drop off. It was just luck that Stiles had left his lunch in the cruiser so Dep… Noah turned back to drop it off and witnessed Stiles struggling to get away from his captors."

Charlie's eyes widened in shock, "What the hell?"

Peter shrugged and he said, "The would-be kidnappers are in holding at the Sheriff's office. I called and asked James to go and check on them and to put tracking charms on them in case someone at the station lets them go when no one is looking. He's also looking into adding surveillance into the cells so we can see who visits.

Charlie asked, "Do we know why they did it?"

Harry shook his head and he said, "Not yet. We asked James for an update on the way here and they are exercising their right to silence. It might be worth claiming jurisdiction and getting them transferred to join their buddies that we portkeyed into our holding cells when we caught them ransacking the Stilinski house. Especially since Stiles seems to be a wizard."

Charlie frowned and he asked, "Seriously? How did Noah keep that hidden?"

Harry smiled and explained, "It would appear he didn't know. He knew that Claudia had magic that she repressed and they had both drilled it into Stiles to tell no one and show no one."

Charlie frowned and he asked, "So how do you know he's a wizard?"

Peter smirked and he said, "Parseltongue sounds so weird from a 10-year-old."

"Huh," Charlie coughed out. He was stunned, parseltongue was still such a rare gift. "So is Draco coming in? We still need to sort out the custody issue this morning, also I want him on board for the issues we are finding here at the hospital. Daphne should be in around ten minutes for a briefing with Senior Agent Spires and Special Agent Dorin."

Peter nodded. He checked his phone and he said, "He shouldn't be too long, David is taking him to the vault to look for the wills of Robert, Tiffany, Kirsten, and Javier. The vault has no wards to prevent magic once inside so Draco should be able to do a simple point me to find them once he can get inside. Harry has copies of Talia and River's paperwork for guardianship of the kids and their wills in his locket. Draco is going to apparate David back to the apartment before bringing Noah here."

Charlie nodded and said, "Let him know to use Peter's hospital room as the apparition arrival point. Melissa has arranged that we use that room as our temporary workspace. Let me go notify Daphne that our lawyer will be here soon."

Harry sent off a quick text to Draco before quietly murmuring to Peter, "I am going to go find a quiet space to work in and see if I can narrow down a location for Derek, will you be ok running things for us down here?"

Peter nodded and he gave Harry a quick kiss before he and Marcus followed Charlie into the briefing.

-x-

Draco hurried into the conference room the FBI were using to centralize their investigation, he approached Charlie and Peter and he affirmed, "I have the wills for all the adult Hale family members and I have let David Whittemore know that the paperwork for the custody hearing for all of the kids including Derek would be with him after this meeting. I have also let him know that a warrant for the arrest of Laura Hale for kidnapping would be sent through at the same time, as the will of Talia Hale specifically stated that she was not to get custody of her siblings unless she had graduated college."

Charlie nodded and he held his hand out for the copies of the wills. As he looked through them he glanced at Peter. He asked, "Peter, have you read Talia's will?"

Peter shook his head, "She," he glanced around to make sure there were no mundanes in the room before he continued, "Alpha ordered me to not look at her will unless she passed and there was no one left who could handle it. She was pretty specific so I have a feeling details about my locked memories are included."

Charlie smiled sadly, as he agreed, "Yes, there is a detailed incident report that was never filed about an assault that resulted in the birth of a child. It looks like it was held back due to the death of the couple who assaulted you."

Peter nodded as he commented, "Ahh yes, the other custody issue we plan to address after this case is wrapped up." He turned to Draco, tilted his head in consideration and he asked, "Was there anything in there about my biological father, Christopher Argent?"

Draco looked through the paperwork and he said, "There is nothing specifically stated in the will, although there is a letter for him from Talia."

Peter nodded, "Right, so it's likely he doesn't know about me. Either way, Harry and I will need to stay out of the Argent interrogations. Charlie, it might be a good idea if you do them or bring in another team to do the interviews. It would prevent their lawyers from claiming a conflict of interest from our teams."

Charlie held up his phone and he confirmed, "I am already on it, I have Greg's team coming in from the Quantico office to do the interrogations." He turned to Draco and looked down at his notepad, he said, "Are you able to help prepare the case against the sheriff? Make sure the team has all evidence in order and no way for the case to be dismissed due to a technicality?"

Draco nodded, and he confirmed, "That's what I am here for Charlie, how is the investigation here at the hospital going?"

Charlie sighed, "It's slow going, we got the search warrant approved for the lockers while you were looking for the kids and we found wolfsbane powder in one of the lockers which when tested matches the type on Peter's diagnostic. We also found digitalis and morphine where they shouldn't have been. The administrator is livid."

Peter's eyes widened and he asked, "Are you going to bring in a team to look into the digitalis and morphine?"

Charlie nodded and he confirmed, "I have called the delta team off their current case, I think getting Beacon Hills sorted is a priority. So Harry's team is going to continue on the financials of the staff to see if anyone has taken a bribe while your team continues investigating the sheriff and his deputies."

Draco cleared his throat. He asked, "Where do you need me? Once I am done filing the temporary custody order and the kidnapping charges for Laura I am all yours."

Charlie looked up at Draco and he said, "Once you have those filed with the DA can you work with Senior Special Agent Spires to go over the paperwork to make sure everything is completed and correct so there is no chance of the Argents using a technicality to get off."

Draco nodded and he gestured to the paperwork folder as he said, "Right, let me go file this then I will find Agent Spires when I return." He turned to Peter and he asked, "Are you and Harry going to search for Derek this afternoon?"

Peter nodded and he confirmed, "Harry is trying to narrow down where Derek's tracking charm is. He's not in Beacon Hills so he has found a quiet spot to try and narrow down the location. I am going to head up now and see if he's ready to start the search."

Peter gave Charlie a mock salute as he left to find his mate.

Draco sighed and he said, "I hope Derek's ok. I honestly don't have a good feeling about this."

Charlie shook his head and he agreed, "I remember Peter saying that Laura wouldn't do the ritual to be next in line until she had graduated from college, so it's definitely hinky that she has the Hale alpha spark."

Draco exclaimed, "The whole situation is hinky. I mean, she had Harry declared dead when he wasn't even in town before she abandoned Peter, cutting his pack bonds and running away with Derek."

Charlie looked resigned before he schooled his features and he said, "I hope Derek is ok, he's a good kid. Right, Draco, why don't you head over to see David and get those charges filed so when Harry and Peter head out to find Derek there won't be any issues from their end. I have already checked out the DA and the local judge and both are clean of any Argent influence."

Draco smiled and he left the conference room to get the ball rolling.

-x-

Harry looked up as Peter and Marcus entered the room.

Peter with a look of hope in his eyes asked, "Any luck?"

Harry shook his head as he explained, "I can narrow it down to the North East somewhere, I think if we can floo to our office in MACUSA it might be close enough for me to narrow the location down somewhat." He looked up at Marcus and he asked, "Do you and Blaise want to wait back at the apartment. It should be a quick visit to MACUSA if they are close enough for me to figure out the coordinates."

Marcus felt the coded taps to his wrist and he nodded, "We can. What are the odds of you running into Granger?" He asked, "It might be good to have one or both of us with you to run interference if she is there."

Peter suggested, "What about Noah, she doesn't know him and it will keep him out of the crosshairs of the local investigation, he's already been cleared to work with us as a consultant."

Harry nodded once sharply in agreement. "We can pick him up when we go home to use the floo. Let's go, grab hold!"

They all took hold of Harry's arms and he apparated them to their apartment. They walked through to the living room, Peter split off to their bedroom to get changed into his work robes, while Marcus and Blaise stopped to chat with the team for an update.

Harry called out, "Noah?"

Noah walked out of the kitchen where he had been fixing the kids a snack. "Harry? What's going on?"

"We are heading out to try and narrow down a location for Derek," Harry explained, "Are you able to join us, Marcus and Blaise might need your help to run interference if an old… umm… friend tries to corner me."

Noah nodded, "Sure, let me get this snack for the kids finished up and I will be right with you. Need me in uniform?"

Harry contemplated the options but he was interrupted by Peter, he checked out what Noah was wearing, dark wash jeans and a long-sleeved green henley, "Civvies, what you are wearing will be perfect. Granger will just disregard you if you aren't in uniform or robes."

Harry nodded in agreement, he started walking towards the bedroom as he called out, "We leave in five. Peter, can you explain the floo while I get changed?"

Peter waved him away and he followed Noah into the kitchen to help finish preparing the snacks and he gave a down and dirty explanation of the floo and how to use floo powder.

After he was finished with the explanation Noah asked, "What's the deal with this Granger person?"

Peter rolled his eyes and said, "You remember that war we talked about in Britain, how Harry stopped the war when he took out the Dark Lord Voldemort?"

Noah nodded in understanding so Peter continued his explanation, "Well, Granger, she was one of his best friends at school, she even helped him take out the Dark Lord. Except it came out after the war that she and his other best friend, her husband now, were being paid to be his friends. What's worse was they were being paid out of Harry's own accounts at the illegal authorization of his guardian. The resulting fight was public and messy and it's the main reason he moved here. She still holds a grudge that he reversed all the payments as unauthorized and likes to corner him and rant at him at length whenever she catches him at MACUSA. As far as I am concerned she is lucky he didn't press charges."

Noah frowned and he seemed confused as he asked, "So Harry didn't press charges, just took the money back and left the country and she rants at him? For what?"

Peter shrugged and he snarked, "No idea, she's a smart witch but her priorities are messed up. We both go out of our way to avoid her and her husband, but unfortunately, her job with the British ministry brings her to MACUSA several times a month."

Noah turned to Peter and he put his hand on Peter's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I'm happy to help run interference if it's needed. Hopefully, though luck will be on our side and we won't need to be there for long. Right, snacks are all done. Let me go put some boots on then we can head out."

They all gathered in the entryway and one by one they flooed to the FBI office in the MACUSA building in New York, Peter whispered final instructions to Noah including how to land gracefully so he didn't land flat on his face at the other end.

Harry looked at the three he could see who accompanied him and he looked at Marcus and he asked, "Marcus, can you three wait outside my office while I run the tracking spell?"

Marcus nodded and he snagged Noah and directed him to a chair in the desk outside Harry and Peter's shared office.

Harry and Peter ducked inside their office and as soon as the door closed Peter pulled Harry into a hug. He gave him a chaste kiss on the temple and he murmured, "Not long now. You will find him and then we can concentrate on the bastards who tried to take us all out."

Harry nodded and pulled away, he sat down in the middle of the office and closed his eyes, he concentrated hard on Derek's tracking charm.

"Gotcha!" Harry exclaimed. Peter handed over a notepad and pen so Harry could write down the details. "He's in a hotel near the airport, I have the address. I can tell he's not alone and he's in pain. I am going to text Charlie so he can send a team in now."

Harry sent off the text and a few minutes later he smiled and he and Peter walked out of the office to give the guys an update. "I was able to narrow down the location to a hotel in Detroit. Charlie has a team on the way to pick up Derek and they will call us in if they need us so he has asked us to wait here for now."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**  
**January 2011**

A few hours later Peter answered his phone and he breathed out a sigh of relief. For the benefit of the others in the room, including his door guards who opened the door when they heard the phone, all of whom didn't have his advanced hearing he said, "They found him. They are bringing him here to the hospital wing under FBI protection." Marcus nodded in relief and he shut the door to give the couple some privacy.

Harry looked up and he asked, "What about Laura?"

Peter shook his head and sighed, "She and the woman she was with ran. They are going to question Derek after he's been checked out by medical. Charlie is bringing Derek himself in about 10 minutes. They are just getting him settled by the medic on the team before he brings him here by portkey. Charlie is giving Aaron a call since he's now in our custody and they suspect wolfsbane has been involved again."

Harry asked, "He's not healing?"

Peter confirmed, "Charlie didn't say much, just that it seemed weird that he was still showing injuries when they got there. He wants to get him settled in the isolation room in the hospital wing before bringing us in. Derek thinks we are both dead, that the entire pack died."

Harry frowned and he asked, "Wouldn't he feel the pack bonds? Cora said she could still feel him right?"

Peter shrugged and said resignedly, "Who knows. Charlie said emotionally he's a mess. He kept talking about how he got his entire pack killed."

Harry wiped his hands down his face and he exclaimed, "Fuck!"

Peter pulled him into a hug as much for his own comfort as for Harry's and he murmured, "It's ok, we will work it all out. We can get Aaron to find us a therapist for him and the other kids. They are all going to need it for a while." He looked towards the door and he called out, "Marcus!" When Marcus poked his head in the door again Peter explained, "We are about to head to the hospital wing here, they are bringing Derek to one of the isolation rooms, can you brief Noah on distracting Granger in case she's in the building?"

Marcus saluted and said, "Let me know when you're ready to go and we will move out ahead to ensure the path is clear." He closed the door again to give the pair some privacy.

Harry checked his phone after he saw it vibrate and murmured to Peter, "Aaron's here. He's going to make sure he is Derek's healer of record. Draco gave him the paperwork from the custody hearing. We got custody of all the kids as per the various wills."

Peter sagged with relief and he moved them both over to the small sofa they had set up in their office. He got them both situated for a good snuggle while they waited for Derek to be assessed. As much as they wanted to be there for Derek they knew they had to wait until Aaron gave the go-ahead.

"So what do we do to transfer the alpha power to you once Laura is tracked down?" Harry asked, "Do you know how she might have interrupted the ascension?"

Peter shook his head and he muttered, "I really have no idea for both of your questions. I know there are a few different rituals but they usually require all those in the line of ascension to be present for the changeover. It also takes at least 3 emissaries to do it if consent isn't a given, it takes a lot of magic to overpower the alpha's wishes."

Harry contemplated the fire and he asked, "Could it have been done while the fire was happening? There are a few bodies that are not family that were recovered from the basement. Do you remember Deaton doing anything specific that caused Talia to rip his throat out?"

Peter shook his head as he lamented, "No, I was a bit panicked and I was concentrating on getting the kids into the tunnels to the vault. Talia was determined that I would keep the kids safe. I just remember hearing her roar and turning to see her ripping out Deaton's throat."

Peter felt his phone vibrate, he glanced down at the screen to read the text before he said, "Charlie wants us in the hospital wing. He's got some information from Derek about the fire."

Harry jumped up from the sofa, he opened the door and said to Marcus, "They're ready for us."

Marcus tapped Noah and they headed off towards the hospital wing. A few minutes later they received a text from Marcus giving the all-clear.

Harry pulled Peter up from the sofa showing surprising strength and they headed to the hospital wing. On the way, they saw Noah had Hermione Granger cornered. Peter chuckled and said, "It looks like he is channeling Stiles and asking questions faster than a speeding bullet."

Charlie pulled the pair into an observation room. Peter's knees buckled when he got his first sight of Derek.

Harry quickly cast a muffliato before Peter could make a sound knowing that Derek would be able to hear them through the wall. He looked at Charlie for an explanation.

Charlie sighed and he explained, "It would appear Laura was working with the Argent family, specifically Kate Argent. Kate was identified by the team fleeing the scene with Laura when we arrived. Derek gave us the impression that they are a couple, at least that was what they said to him while they kept him bound as a toy in their various hotel rooms."

Harry asked angrily, "So why does Derek have the impression he killed the pack?"

Charlie scowled and he postulated, "It would appear that Kate Argent was working as a substitute teacher at Beacon Hills High School where she used her position to get close to Derek. She used this connection to get information out of him about the pack, the house, and even the tunnels."

Peter frowned and he asked, "Wouldn't she had just got that from Laura if they were working together."

Charlie shrugged and agreed, "You would think so. We won't know until we bring them in. The rescue team is in pursuit and we will hopefully have them in holding soon. I already have the warrant to use veritaserum in their questioning."

Peter snarled, "Good!"

Harry asked, "Can we see him? Does he know we are here?"

Charlie nodded and he explained, "Aaron has given him a few potions, he has wolfsbane poisoning, he was covered in cuts all over his torso from a wolfsbane imbued blade, he was also bound in wolfsbane ropes. Aaron has given him the same potion he has the kids on to counter the wolfsbane and a calming draught which should have kicked in by now. Seriously the kid was a mess when he realized we were rescuing him."

Peter looked at Harry and he asked, "Is Andromeda still licensed to work in the US? Maybe she would be willing to move across to treat the kids?"

Harry nodded and he agreed, "We can always ask. Come on, enough deflecting. Let's go see him."

Harry canceled the silencing charm and they headed into the isolation room. Derek was asleep when they walked in so with a quick look of agreement Harry cast a quiet charm on the bed to enlarge it and they both lay on top of the blankets on either side of Derek in a small puppy pile to give him comfort while he slept.

Harry lay on his side behind Derek and propped up his head on his hand. He looked at Peter who was assessing Derek's visible injuries and he asked, "So do we buy a house or use the apartments on our level and rebuild in the preserve or a mix of both?"

Peter looked up and he asked, "Can we do both? I don't think the apartments are right for the kids, they need to be able to go outside and the balconies are quite small. So why don't we rent a place or even a couple of places that back onto the preserve and rebuild on Hale land closer to town?"

Harry nodded as he agreed, "I like that idea, it may take a while to find a couple of places that are next to each other, that will make it easier. We can always ask the Goblins. They have their fingers in all the pies and they have some great construction teams."

Derek started to stir and they both moved in to wrap him in a tight hug.

Derek pulled back and looked confused when he saw his uncle. He frowned and he asked, "Uncle Peter?"

Peter moved back so Derek could see him clearly and he confirmed, "Yeah kiddo, me and Harry are both here."

Derek turned to glance at Harry who was still hugging him from the other side. Tears started to fall as Derek said quietly, "But you died, you both died. I felt it."

Peter shook his head, "No kiddo, Harry wasn't even in town, he was still in the UK on that trip. I was injured getting the kids out but I am fine now." He explained gently.

Derek asked in a small voice, "So I didn't kill the whole pack?"

Peter cupped his cheek in his hand, "No, you didn't kill anyone."

Derek cried out, "But I felt all the pack bonds snap and I gave her all the information she needed to trap everyone and set the fire."

Harry tugged Derek so he rolled over to face him. "Derek you didn't give her anything she hadn't already received from Laura. Our boss said you mentioned Laura and Kate were together?"

Derek nodded, he morosely confirmed, "Yeah, Kate loved rubbing it in that when she was done fucking me she would leave to join Laura in their bed and they would laugh about my naivety."

Harry looked over at Peter and he asked, "Isn't Kate in her thirties?"

Peter thought back to the info he read about the Argent family members. He confirmed, "Yes, she's only 6 or 7 years younger than Chris if I remember correctly and he's almost 40."

Harry frowned as he contemplated, "So we can add statutory rape to her list of charges. Maybe even grooming."

Peter agreed, "Definitely statutory rape, a thirty-plus-year-old with a 15-year-old. That's going to add years to her sentence." He looked Derek in the eye and he said gently, "We are asking a friend of Harry's from the UK to come over and give you kids some mind healing. It's not like mundane therapy where you sit and talk but they have different techniques including one where they can remove the memory from your mind and you both watch it in a pensive to help you process it better."

Derek looked up at Peter with hope in his eyes, "The kids survived? What about Mom and Dad?"

Peter shook his head, "Sorry kiddo, Talia and River both passed away in the fire, with Rob, Tiff, Kristen, and Javier."

Derek broke down into tears and Peter and Harry held him in close while he cried himself to sleep again.

-x-

Meanwhile, in the holding cells of the MACUSA FBI unit, Charlie was getting ready, with the help of Special Agent Grace Berger, to start the veritaserum interrogation of Kate Argent and Laura Hale. She normally worked under Harry as part of his supernatural investigations team.

Charlie checked over the table to ensure everything was ready, "Is the dictaquill setup and ready?"

Grace ran through the usual test phrases to ensure that it was recording correctly and she nodded when they came up ok on the parchment. She asked, "How do you want to do this? Do you have a list of questions ready? Do you want me to ask them? They may be more receptive to me."

Charlie looked around the room and moved to the wall beside the observation mirror. "I am just going to stand here all quiet-like."

Grace smirked, "As if they are going to think you are all unassuming Boss."

Charlie raised an eyebrow as he snarked, "They won't suspect, they are already looking like they have more ego than sense.

Grace asked, "Did we get anything useful from the interrogations of the five they caught at the Deputies house?"

Charlie shook his head, "No," He explained, "They only knew they had been hired to trash the place to send a message to Deputy Stilinski. They did confirm they were hired by Gerard Argent." He shook his head as if to shake off the crazy, "Let's start the interrogations with Ms. Hale."

Grace made a quick call asking for Ms. Hale to be brought to the interrogation room.

Laura was brought in by a couple of the agents from the team who rescued Derek. Grace and Charlie could see they were still somewhat salty about the condition Derek was in when he was rescued from his alpha's 'care'. She was wearing special cuffs spelled to hold an alpha werewolf which were then attached to the table with a specialized sticking charm.

Grace took her time to explain how the questioning would work before she administered the veritaserum and asked the standard control questions. Once she was happy it had taken effect she started the interrogation. She glanced down at the list of questions and she asked, "Were you involved in the plan to burn the Hale house down with the pack trapped inside."

Laura answered flatly, "Yes."

Grace asked, "Please detail how the plan developed."

Like all those dosed with veritaserum, Laura again answered impassively, "The Argents moved to Beacon Hills and the current family matriarch Victoria Argent signed a treaty with my mother. Through my attendance, at the negotiations, I met Kate. We started dating and she found out I was not happy with my place in the family. I was angry that my mother would not do the ritual to make me the next alpha until I had graduated from college. Kate offered to help me fix it so I could be the alpha straight away."

Grace made some notes on her legal pad then she asked, "What was Kate Argent's involvement in the plan?"

Laura explained, "Kate explained how she had refined a method to take out entire packs with help from druids she knows. She had the druids go in and line the house with a couple of different lines of mountain ash and she used a special accelerant that was infused with mountain ash to ensure that the wolves wouldn't be able to escape the flames. The druids were encased in a fire proof ward."

Grace frowned and she ignored the next question on the list and she asked for clarification, "So how did you get the alpha spark?"

Laura answered flatly, "Three druids were in the basement when the fire started. They did a ritual that removed Peter from the line of ascension. Because I am the next born child of the alpha I received the alpha spark."

Grace sighed as she asked, "Did you give Kate details about the pack house?"

Laura nodded as she agreed, "Yes, including all the schematics for the tunnels that I had learned about during my alpha lessons."

Grace glanced at Charlie before she asked, "Why did you take Derek and run?"

Laura said, "For two reasons. The main reason was to teach him a lesson for screwing my girlfriend. The other reason was our alibi. To mundane police, we would have looked like scared kids running from the fire that killed our entire family."

"Was Kate seducing Derek part of the plan?" Grace asked as she tried to keep the disgust off her face.

Laura answered flatly with a slight smile on her face, "Yes. So that if the plans Kate had about having the case closed as an accidental fire didn't work we had a scapegoat to throw at the police."

Charlie cleared his throat and when Grace glanced over he tapped his watch to warn her that the hour was nearly up.

Grace looked down at the questions remaining and decided on the one that would help with her next interrogation. She asked, "What members of the Argent family were involved in this plan?"

Laura clarified, "I was only aware of Gerard Argent."

Grace made some notes on her pad then she gave the signal to the agents who were waiting in the observation room to take Laura back to the holding cells.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**  
**January 2005**

While they waited for Kate to be brought into the interrogation room Charlie started to write out a list of questions. He said, "We will need more veritaserum for this one. I want her given the maximum dose daily until we have a complete list of every hunter and accomplice and the names of every single creature she has targeted. The attack on the Hale Pack was far too coordinated to be the first attempt."

Grace nodded, "Do you want the other Argents brought in?"

Charlie tapped his notepad with his pen, "Yes. We need to see how deep this all goes. If it is just Gerard and Kate or if the whole family is involved. Gerard Argent is the priority."

He handed over the notepad with the updated questions for Kate and the rest of the Argents. She read through the questions and she tapped a question with her pen as she asked, "Charlie? Is this true?"

Charlie nodded, "Yes, he is still coming to terms with it. Talia implied in her will that very few people actually knew the identity of his father."

Grace asked, "Did Laura know?"

Charlie shook his head but thought better of it, "I don't think so, but add it to the questions for Kate." He checked his text that just came through. "They are bringing her up now."

Charlie moved to stand by the observation window as Grace changed the parchment under the dictaquill and she double-checked it was working correctly.

Kate was brought into the room and shoved non too gracefully into the seat. Grace frowned at SSA Spires who was behind the shoving. He usually had the best poker face on the team, but right now he looked like he wanted to rip her throat out with his teeth.

He just shook his head and stalked out of the room closely followed by Agent Darcy. Grace pulled out the veritaserum from the box on the table beside her notepad, she pulled out one of the vials and she looked at Kate sitting looking smug on the other side of the table. She asked, "Do you know where you are?"

Kate sneered and she said, "An FBI interrogation room? As if it matters, I will be out of here before you get any real questioning done."

Grace smirked, "Oh really? Why do you say that?"

Kate rolled her eyes as she replied, "My father will have already notified our lawyers."

"That may be the case," Grace acknowledged, "But if they are mundane lawyers they won't have the authority to act within this building. You will be provided with a public defender who has passed the specific bar exam to work in the magical world." She tapped the vial, "This is veritaserum, it is used in all interrogations to ensure we get the truth. Should you refuse to take it willingly when required you will be stunned and dosed while you are knocked out."

Kate demanded, "That can't be legal."

Grace smirked, she was enjoying throwing Kate off her game, "Not in the mundane world no. But in the magical world, we have different laws and when you went after the family of a magical citizen it put you in our jurisdiction. So open up please, just three drops and we can get started."

Grace stood and waited beside Kate who was resolute in keeping her mouth shut so Charlie pulled out his wand and with a quiet Stupefy he sent a simple stunning spell at Kate. Grace was quick to drop the required three drops on her tongue before she sat back down at the table and she used her wand to wake Kate with a quick Renervate.

Kate sat up and she had the blank look typical of those dosed with Veritaserum. Grace asked, "What is your full name."

Kate intoned, "Katherine Jean-Marie Argent."

Grace glanced at the dictaquill to verify it was working correctly and then at Charlie to see if he was happy to continue.

He gave a brief nod so she continued with the list of questions starting with questions about the Hale fire, "Did you set fire to the Hale house?"

Kate agreed, "Yes."

Charlie felt the wards he had set up on the observation room go off and he checked his phone. He had a text from Harry to let him know that both Harry and Peter were observing the interview. He knocked on the window to acknowledge their presence.

Grace asked, "Why did you target the Hale Pack?"

Kate took a while but she eventually answered, "I was ordered to by my father."

Grace with no small amount of curiosity asked, "What was your brother's involvement in the attack on the Hale Pack?"

Kate tried again to not answer but the serum forced her hand and she said, "He was not involved or aware at all."

Grace looked down at her list of questions and she asked, "How was Laura Hale involved?"

Kate replied, "We have been dating for a few years, since she started college. She offered to help eliminate her pack."

Grace narrowed her eyes and she asked, "What did Laura Hale want in return for helping you eliminate her pack?"

Kate explained, "Laura wanted the alpha spark and she wanted her brother to be framed for the pack's murders."

Grace frowned and she asked, "Why did she want her brother framed?"

The blank look was fading from Kate's face as she said, "Her brother was the only threat to her receiving the alpha spark, he was next in line and he had been receiving alpha training from Peter Hale."

Grace asked the last question that was deemed high priority before the serum wore off completely, "Was Laura Hale aware that Peter Hale was her half brother?"

Kate smirked, "No."

As Grace and Charlie worked to dose her for the second out of the four they could do before a break was required Harry held his arms around Peter to stop him from storming in there to end her on the spot. "Come on, we don't need to hear all the details, she has admitted fault and cleared your biological father."

Peter nodded and he held his head up high as they walked out of the observation room. Harry flicked a quick text to Charlie so he knew they had both left.

Harry checked in with Aaron when he got back to the ward while Peter climbed up on the bed and cuddled with Derek.

Aaron checked his chart and he reported, "Physically Derek is fine. We have managed to heal the damage caused by Kate and Laura. Mentally he's a mess. Have you had any luck getting hold of Andromeda?"

Harry shook his head, "I haven't had a chance to call. I was planning to do it tonight once everyone has gone to bed, try and catch her before she goes to work. Can we take him home?"

Aaron looked down at the notes and he said, "He's been cleared to leave by the investigators and I think it could be good for him to see the other kids. But I want you to arrange a mind healer. If not Andromeda then someone else, I can give you a list of healers that I would recommend."

"Let me try Andromeda tonight," Harry offered, "I will let you know tomorrow if she is happy to join us. You still want to check the kids tomorrow right?"

Aaron nodded, "Yes, especially the younger three." Aaron handed over the discharge paperwork to Harry and he said, "Take him home Harry. Just be aware he is likely to be withdrawn for a while after what those two put him through. I will see you all tomorrow."

Harry entered the hospital room and he waved the discharge papers as he asked, "Want to go home?"

Peter got up off the bed and he asked, "Where are our guards?"

Harry shrugged, "Blaise took Noah back earlier before they brought Laura in so there were more guards in Beacon Hills. Marcus is probably hanging out in our office while he waits for us. Blaise didn't want to leave us without a guard."

Derek sat up and he asked, "Guards?"

Harry sent off a text to Marcus to let him know they were cleared to leave MACUSA as Peter explained, "Harry called in a friend who runs a personal security company. They sent us guards to protect the family until the threats are dealt with."

Derek asked, "I thought it was just Kate and Laura?"

Peter shook his head, "No pup. The fire was a small part of a bigger puzzle so to speak. They are questioning Kate now to find out just how many packs she has attacked on the orders of her father."

"Oh," Derek said quietly, "So it really wasn't my fault?"

Peter pulled him into a hug and he said firmly, "Not in any way shape or form kiddo. You were targeted as a scapegoat because Laura was worried that you would replace her as alpha heir."

Derek looked confused and Peter said, "Look, don't worry about it for now. Are you ready to go back to Beacon Hills? We have moved everyone to our apartment until we can work out a more permanent home."

Derek asked, "Don't I need to stay here for a few days?"

Harry held up the discharge papers and he said, "No, Aaron gave you a clean bill of health. He is stopping in tomorrow to give the kids a checkup to make sure they are fully healed from the wolfsbane poisoning and smoke inhalation and he said he will give you a quick check-up at the same time. The only instructions he left are for you to rest for a few days and mandatory visits with a mind healer which we are organizing."

Derek screwed up his nose at the thought of therapy so Peter reassured, "It's different than mundane therapy, it's not all talking. I have even seen a mind healer a few times after rough cases."

Marcus entered the hospital room and he said, "I got a portkey to the apartment and permission to leave from here. Granger knows you're in the building and she is looking for you. Blaise has asked that we travel asap. Apparently, Stiles is living up to his nickname and he has discovered your basilisks are all pranksters."

Harry's eyes widened and he turned to Derek and he asked, "Bugger. Are you ready to go, Derek?" As Derek asked, "What's a Stiles?"

Derek nodded and he got out of the bed and he slipped his shoes on before he held on to the rope Marcus was holding out. With a quiet, "Home sweet home." From Marcus, they all felt that hook to the navel that was typical of portkeys as they were transported to the spare apartment in Beacon Hills that Marcus' team was using.

As soon as the spinning stopped Harry ran to the apartment he was sharing with Peter and the kids followed by the rest of the group.

Harry was expecting bedlam and chaos but what he found was Stiles sitting against the sofa with the snakes all surrounding him as he read out loud in parseltongue to the snakes from the storybook in his lap.

The Hale kids were debating amongst themselves if he was actually reading or if he was just hissing nonsense as Luna tried to explain to them about parseltongue speakers and the special magic they could do.

Harry looked at Blaise with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'is this it?'

Blaise flushed and he said, "Noah said Stiles had his usual look that came before epic mischief. I was expecting something on par with the marauders knowing your basilisks and their penchant for pranks."

Derek surprised the group when after greeting his sister and their cousins with hugs he chose to sit down beside Stiles in front of the couch and he asked, "Are they yours?"

Stiles shook his head and he pointed at Kaa, "Kaa is mine, the basilisks, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, are Harry's guard snakes." He looked down at the hissing snakes who were looking at Harry.

Harry hissed back, "He is sssafe. Be gentle with him pleasssse. You too Sssstiles."

Stiles and the snakes all nodded and Stiles explained to a shocked Derek, "They need to get your scent if that's ok. If you hold out your hand out they will memorize your scent profile."

Derek held his hand out as he asked, "You can understand them?"

Stiles nodded, "I am a parseltongue like Harry." He whispered, "Kaa is my best friend, he has even followed me to school a few times."

Harry gave them one last check to make sure Derek was ok with Stiles and suitably distracted before he joined the adults. Luna and Neville had taken the other Hale kids through to the bedroom so they could give Derek some breathing space and to let the adults talk about the case without werewolf ears listening in.

Peter was busy explaining how the interrogations went with Laura and Kate. "Laura admitted she was working with the Argents to eliminate the pack. She wanted to be the alpha on her schedule, not Talia's. Kate gave up her father and cleared her brother."

Harry spoke up, "Draco, I think they have Chris' interrogation scheduled for tomorrow, so if you could be there with the letter from Talia that would be great. Actually, if you could be there to witness the rest of the interrogations. I don't think either myself or Peter are up for that."

Draco nodded in agreement, he checked his phone before he asked, "Is Charlie on board with me witnessing the interviews on your behalf?"

Harry grinned, "It was his idea. He will likely ask for your help in making sure there are no loopholes the Argents can use to get out of trouble."

Draco asked, "What do you want to do if Christopher wants to meet Peter?"

Peter thought about it and he asked, "He is married right? With a daughter?"

Draco nodded, "Yes, he is married to Victoria who is the Argent Regent until Allison is of age. For some reason, Kate was removed from the line of succession after Allison was born."

Peter muttered, "Because she's batshit crazy?" Louder he said, "If they are both cleared in their interviews, then offer to bring the family here. They will be a target once word gets out that he has a son that's a werewolf. We have an apartment they can use until all the accomplices are arrested."

Harry added, "We will be at MACUSA tomorrow so they can do the ritual to pass on the Hale alpha spark to Peter. If he has questions I guess we can meet in our office after the ritual."

Draco smiled, "I like that idea, more neutral than bringing hunters to your home."

Peter rolled his eyes and he said, "Honestly, everything I have heard about Christopher says he is honorable and follows the hunter code to the letter. The few times we have met he has been polite and there was no sign of the attitude his father has towards werewolves. I am good with whatever."

Peter crouched down beside the snakes and he asked, "Derek do you want to take the extra bed in Stiles room or would you prefer to puppy pile with Cora and your cousins?"

Derek asked, "Why is Stiles on his own?"

Stiles snorted, "They didn't want to share a room with Kaa when he is loose. He gets cranky if he has to sleep in his terrarium."

Derek looked at Peter and he said, "Stiles room sounds perfect. He said he is here because someone tried to grab him so he shouldn't be on his own."

Stiles stood and he picked up Kaa and draped him around his shoulders, the three basilisks hissed and each started their own patrols of the apartment building. Stiles grabbed Derek's hand and said, "Come on Derek, we will go say goodnight to the others and I will show you to our room."


End file.
